George M.C. Fisher.

• Author: Porter, Martin

Eastman Kodak's CEO accepts a Delta Air Lines directorship as he winds down from a six-year restructuring workout at the film products company.

IN THE LOBBY leading to the chairman's office of Eastman Kodak Co. is a replica of the torch used during the inaugural ceremonies of the Summer 1996 Olympic Games. Kodak Chairman and CEO George M.C. Fisher had the honor of carrying the real thing through Rochester as the torch made its way across the United States to Atlanta, the site of the games. When DIRECTORS & BOARDS asked him about this special occasion, his response was decidedly low-key.

"We were one of the top sponsors for the Olympics," he explains, "and when the torch came through Rochester, I volunteered to run a short leg" which, he amusingly recalls, "amounted to only a few blocks -- not exactly what I would call a strenuous run.

A bit more strenuous is his daily ritual of arising most mornings at 5 a.m. for a vigorous workout at the local YMCA or, on nicer days, for a five-mile jog, before arriving at his office by 7 a.m.

Fisher has been in strenuous workout mode for the past six years in trying to revive one of the nation's troubled name brands. In a surprise announcement in June 1999, the 58-year-old executive revealed plans to relinquish his title of CEO at the film products company a year earlier than expected, but that he would remain chairman until his contract expires in December 2000.

While Fisher may have drawn a number of critics who expected a better outcome for Kodak under his tenure, he has not been without offers from leading companies seeking to enlist him for their boards. He has been a director of General Motors Corp. since 1996 and of AT&T Corp. since 1997, and in September 1999 Delta Air Lines Inc. recruited him as its newest director. Atlanta-based Delta is the world's most-flown carrier, and was named "Airline of the Year" by Air Transport World magazine and "Best-Managed Major Airline" for 1999 by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine.

Before joining Kodak in 1993, Fisher turned down offers to become CEO of IBM Corp. He was riding high from his success as chairman and CEO of Motorola Inc., where he made the company the No. 1 maker of cellular phones. If anyone could save Kodak, as the business media proclaimed at the time, it would be Fisher.

He quickly learned what an onerous task was ahead. Its board had fired his predecessor, Kay Whitmore. Its businesses were diffuse and management too bureaucratic. Its...