Dimon McFerson

McFerson was born Dimon Richard McFerson and grew up in Southern California, using his middle name Richard for much of his life.[2][3] His father was a truck driver and his mother a school teacher.[3] He attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he graduated with a degree in business education.[4] Instead of going into teaching, he decided to pursue a career within business itself.[4] He also received a master's degree in Public Administration from USC.[3]

McFerson began his career as a management trainee for a drugstore chain in California.[4] He also spent time in the army before returning to night school and passing his CPA exam.[4] He began working for Ernst & Young where his first audit was for an insurance company, leading to him becoming the "insurance guy" in the audit industry.[4][3] He went on to work for Surety Life and later New England Life Insurance prior to beginning his career at Nationwide.[3]

McFerson began his career with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in 1979 as Vice President of Internal Audits. He went through five promotions over 20 years with Nationwide.[4] McFerson retired from Nationwide in 2000, with former Bank One executive W.G. Jurgensen taking over the position.[5] In 2000 he was also elected to the board of trustees for The Ohio State University.[6]