John W. Fedor was born on July 25, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was educated in Cleveland schools and developed a passion for manufacturing at a very young age. On his sixteenth birthday, he started his employment at Zagar, Inc., a Cleveland machine tool builder, working during summers and after school. The owner of the company mentored Mr. Fedor for 10 years, becoming a highly skilled tool and die maker and developer of new automated machine concepts and manufacturing processes.

In 1962, Mr. Fedor co-founded Masco Machine, Inc., located in Cleveland, Ohio, and served as President and CEO until 2000, and then as Chairman of the Board until January of 2003.

Masco designed and built a wide variety of custom CNC metal cutting and microfinishing machining systems using state-of-the-art mechanical and electrical technologies. Their products included BridgeMax CNC bridge-type machining centers, AgileMax CNC platform design, high-speed machining centers, CNC rotary and linear transfer lines, multiple spindle turret machining systems, microfinishing systems, and special machines. Industries served were automotive, automotive suppliers, hydraulic, aerospace, medical, truck, and off-road equipment.

In 1984, the Great Lakes Governors formed a commission to study the machine tool industry to help its survival. Ohio governor Richard Celeste was chairman of the committee, and Mr. Fedor was invited to serve on that commission to be an advisor to the Great Lakes Governors.

In 1990, Mr. Fedor was appointed chairman of a special committee to study what effect the Voluntary Restraint Agreements have had on the domestic machine tool industry. The committee was to review anti-circumvention regulations and make specific recommendations to the U.S. Department of Commerce concerning the criteria for a possible extension past the December 1991 expiration date of the VRAs with Japan and other countries.

Mr. Fedor is a charter member of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) and was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of that organization. NCMS is the primary research facility for industry and is not affiliated with the U.S. government. It helps to provide guidance in the transfer of technology to industry in the United States. He served from 1990 to 2002.

As a member of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), Mr. Fedor became active on their Government Relations Committee and has served as Chairman of the Committee. He also served on the Metrication Committee, the Custom Automation Systems Group (CASG), and several ad hoc committees. In 1991, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association and served as its Chairman of the Board in 1997 and 1998. He continued to serve on the Board and chaired the Finance, Executive and Audit Committees until 2002. The AMT (formerly National Machine Tool Builders Association NMTBA) is based in McLean, VA.

He served as chairman of an Industry Advisory Board to the Department of Energy (DOE) for the National Machine Tool Partnership, as well as serving on the Industry Advisory Board to the Department of Commerce (DOC) concerning export licensing for high technology U.S. products.

While serving on the AMT Board of Directors, Mr. Fedor traveled with twelve other board members, technical staff, and the president of the association to many countries, both industrialized and developing nations. The task was to study their manufacturing technology, trade issues, and academic and political issues related to the manufacturing community. The delegation spent about two weeks in each location and met with industry leaders, government officials, U.S. Ambassadors, and Commercial Officers, as well as university personnel.

Mr. Fedor's travels covered approximately twenty universities and two hundred factories, which manufactured everything from airplanes to automobiles and trucks as well as bearings to high technology and various commercial products. The countries he visited included:

1992 - Switzerland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary
1993 - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore
1994 - China and Japan
1996 - India
1997 - Korea and Japan
1998 - Mexico
2000 - China and Singapore
2001 - Brazil and Argentina
2002 - Spain and Ireland

In addition, Mr. Fedor was a leader of trade missions to the other nations as well as participating in various international trade shows in France, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, and China.

He served on the Advisory Board of the Great Lakes Manufacturing Technology Center, which is sponsored by NIST, and served on the council of the Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program, which is a manufacturing extension partnership sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce and states that link universities and industry.

Mr. Fedor is an inventor and holds several patents and is currently working in the renewable energy field as a design and manufacturing consultant collaborating with several unique companies that are developing a new generation of wind turbines.

He is active in community work and is an advisor and supporter to many small businesses. He served two terms as senior warden in his local parish church and has been quite active in inner-city churches as an advisor to various ministers. He also served on ad hoc committees with the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio including the financial development committee.

Other organizations he belongs to include the Chamber of Commerce, Society for Manufacturing Engineers and the National Association of Manufacturers. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Washington, D.C. based National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA).

He is an instrument-rated pilot and his hobbies include golf and skiing.