Gibson Guitar Corp. CEO Henry Juszkiewicz Visits Mississippi College

Henry Juszkiewicz

Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., will be the guest speaker at the Mississippi College School of Business on February 24.

His 11 a.m. address that Thursday to students at Self Hall is part of the School of Business Executive Lecture Series.

Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos.

Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Gibson has been based in Nashville since 1984 where Juszkiewicz lives with his wife, Catherine, an MC graduate, and their three children.

Having Juszkiewicz speak as part of the Executive Lecture Series “continues the tradition of this event of having outstanding and highly accomplished individuals from the business world,” said Marcelo Eduardo, dean of the School of Business. “Our students will benefit greatly from his remarks.”

In 1986, Juszkiewicz and his partners acquired the faltering Gibson guitar operation from the Norlin Corp. and under his firm guidance the company became profitable within a month’s time. He drove Gibson from the brink of closing to a company that’s regained global respect and seen an average growth of 20 percent over the last decade.

An MBA graduate of Harvard University where he received a General Motors Fellowship, Juszkiewicz serves as a board member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also serves on the boards of the Beale Street Blues Company, Inc. and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He is executive vice president of the Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association and leads numerous philanthropic endeavors under the Gibson Foundation banner.

Fulfilling his vision of Gibson as a global musical instrument company, he established a Gibson-owned European distribution center and acquired manufacturing facilities in China.

His ties to the company go back to his college days when he played his way through school playing guitar in rock bands at parties and weddings. Of course the guitar he used was a Gibson.

Juszkiewicz, who grew up in Rochester, New York, has other family connections to Mississippi College. His wife’s father, Jim Powell, is a 1956 MC alumnus.