James John Nance (19 February 1900 – 21 July 1984) was an American industrialist who became president of the

Studebaker-Packard Corporation The Studebaker-Packard Corporation was the entity created in 1954 by the purchase of the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. While Studebaker was the larger of the two companies, P ...

. Later, he was chief executive of the Central National Bank of Cleveland, chairman of the executive committee of Montgomery Ward and chairman of the board of trustees of the

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...

and a major property investor.James J. Nance
at Horatio Alger Awards

Early life

Nance was born in Portsmouth, Lawrence County, Ohio, in 1900 to George W. Nance and Florence Nance. He was raised on their farm. Following military service during World War I, Nance graduated from the

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

in 1923; he also attended the Ohio State University where he pursued post-graduate course work.

Career

Nance began his career at National Cash Register (NCR) in 1924, staying until 1927 when he joined

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

' Frigidaire division. In 1940 he left Frigidaire when he was named vice president of Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago. Nance was named CEO of General Electric's Hotpoint brand in 1945 and CEO of the

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

Motor Car Company in 1952. While at Studebaker Packard, Nance moved to separate the Packard Clipper range of vehicles into a stand-alone brand,

Clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

. He also expedited development of Packard's first V8 engine and automatic transmission, Ultramatic. Nance helped to orchestrate the 1954 Packard acquisition of the Studebaker Corporation, creating the Studebaker Packard Corporation in 1954. While the Studebaker merger appeared to be in the best interests of both automakers, Studebaker failed to provide Packard with a full disclosure of its tenuous cash position, jeopardizing both marques. While Nance had held informal talks with

George W. Mason George Walter Mason (March 12, 1891 – October 8, 1954) was an American industrialist. During his career Mason served as the Chairman and CEO of the Kelvinator Corporation (1928-1937), Chairman and CEO of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation (1937-19 ...

Nash Kelvinator Nash-Kelvinator Corporation was the result of a merger in 1937 between Nash Motors and Kelvinator Appliance Company. The union of these two companies was brought about as a result of a condition made by George W. Mason prior to his appointment as C ...

about a potential merger that would bring all the U.S. independent automakers under one corporate entity, formal discussions were never established. Any hope of those discussions moving forward ended with Mason's death in October 1954. Nance left Studebaker Packard in 1956 when the company was on the verge of insolvency, but not until he found the organization a safe-harbor relationship with airplane manufacturer Curtiss-Wright. Following his tenure at Studebaker Packard, Nance was named vice president of Ford's Mercury Edsel Lincoln Division, but resigned under pressure from top Ford executives in 1959 when the Edsel's sales were poor. He left the automobile business following his tenure with Ford and became president and CEO of Central National Bank of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in 1960, being elevated to the position of chairman and CEO in 1962. According to Nance he left the automobile industry because while there he had learned that everything depended on money and who controlled it. Following his retirement from Central National, Nance established his own consulting firm in

Community leadership roles

In 1964 Nance was named as the first chairman of the board of trustees of

, a position that he held until 1970. Cleveland State named its business college in his honor (renaming it in June 2011 to honor another board of trustees chair, Monte Ahuja) and its library holds Nance'
personal papers
. In addition to his tenure on the board of CSU, Nance also served as a life trustee for Northwestern University, trustee for Ohio Wesleyan University and a trustee for University Hospitals of Cleveland, an affiliate of

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

Personal life

Nance married the former Laura Battelle in 1925; the couple had two children. Following Nance's retirement he maintained his principal residence in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Mrs. Nance died in Michigan on October 26, 1977, at the age of 78.

References

* Durrance, Thomas ''The Hard Road: Studebaker-Packard is fighting back.'' Barron's National Business and Financial Weekly, Boston, Mass.: Nov 8, 1954. Vol. 34, Iss. 45; pp. 3. * Editors. ''Who Was Who in America'' - Volume 9, 1986–1989. Marquis Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nance, James J. 1900 births American chief executives of financial services companies Cleveland State University people People in the automobile industry Ohio State University alumni Ohio Wesleyan University alumni 1984 deaths Montgomery Ward Studebaker people Packard people 20th-century American businesspeople People from Lawrence County, Ohio People from Chagrin Falls, Ohio