VANDERBILT ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME – CLASS OF 2008
John Hall (Football, 1951-54)
John Hall describes himself as an overachiever on and off the football field. The Knoxville, Tennessee native was an under-sized defensive lineman who became Vanderbilt’s first academic All-America in 1954, then enjoyed an enormously successful career that culminated as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ashland, Inc., and president of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust.
- 1954 football team co-captain and first academic All-America in school history
- 1955 graduates Magna Cum Laude with degree in Chemical Engineering
- Joined Ashland Oil in 1957
- Elected to a vice president in 1966
- Became president of Ashland Chemical Company in 1971
- Elected Executive Vice President of corporation in 1974
- Elected Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Operations Officer in 1979
- Elected Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in 1981
- Member of Vanderbilt’s Board of Trust
- President of Vanderbilt Board of Trust 1995
- Only Vanderbilt student-athlete elected to CoSIDA’s Academic Hall of Fame