About John H. Sykes

John H. Sykes, chairman emeritus of Sykes Enterprises Inc., retired as of Dec. 31, 2004 after 27 years overseeing the international company. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and attended High Point College and Queens University, both North Carolina schools, as well as Rollins College in Florida. In 1998, Sykes received an honorary doctorate degree from UT in business and humane letters. He also received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Pikeville College in Kentucky.

Sykes founded Sykes Enterprises Inc. (SYKES) in Charlotte in 1977 as a small technical engineering firm with three employees. In 1993, the company relocated its headquarters to Tampa, Florida. Today, the company is a global leader in the business process outsourcing arena and provides customer contact management services to Fortune 1000 and leading global companies. SYKES is on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange (SYKE) and has more than 17,000 employees in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Prior to beginning SYKES, Sykes was employed for 11 years by CDI Corporation, a major service firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He was senior vice president in charge of corporate development.

Sykes also owns a horse farm, Clover Leaf Farms II, in Ocala, Florida. He purchased the farm in 1997 and has successfully built the farm into a multi-million dollar leader in the thoroughbred industry. Clover Leaf Farms II is a facility designed for breeding, development and training of horses, with expertise in sales preparation and purchasing opportunities for resale.

As a result of his business accomplishments, Sykes has been recognized with numerous awards for his entrepreneur abilities and community involvement. Some of these include the 1996 Florida Entrepreneur of the Year; the 1997 Innovator of the Year, awarded by his industry peers; 1997 Citizen of the Year by the Tampa Police Department; and, the 1998 Citizen of the Year by the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Officers. Also, in 1998, Sykes was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame and was awarded the Florida Enterprise medal by the Merchants Association. In 2003, he received the Humanitarian Award from the Judeo Christian Health Clinic and in 2004 received the Senior Philanthropy Award. Sykes was inducted in to the Hall of Fame of the International Sales and Marketing organization in April 2005.

Sykes continues to be active in the Tampa Bay community. He is the former chair of the UT Board of Trustees, and currently serves as chair emeritus. Because of his support and commitment, UT named the John H. Sykes College of Business in his honor. Sykes is also a member of the United Way Million Dollar Roundtable as well as the Alexis de Tocqueville Society. He is active with the Florida Council of Economic Education and recently completed a three-year term as chairman of this organization.