Peter Buck (restaurateur)
| Peter Buck | |
|---|---|
| Born | South Portland, Maine, USA |
| Nationality |  American |
| Alma mater | Bowdoin College Columbia University |
| Occupation | Businessman founder of Subway Sandwiches |
Peter Buck is a physicist, restaurateur, and philanthropist. He co-founded the Subway fastfood restaurant chain.
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[edit] Education
A native of South Portland, Maine, Buck graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in 1952. He then earned master’s and doctoral degrees in physics at Columbia University.[1] In 2008, Bowdoin awarded him an honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree.
[edit] Foundation of Subway
Serving as a nuclear physicist for several companies from 1957 to 1978, he loaned partner and family friend Fred De Luca $1,000 in 1965 and advised him to open a sandwich shop to help him pay for college at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They named the restaurant after Buck, calling it "Pete's Super Submarines".[2] Together Buck and De Luca formed Doctor's Associates to oversee operations of the restaurants as the franchise expanded. Though neither the first nor the second restaurants were financial successes, they continued to expand their operations.[3] By 1973, they had 16 locations throughout Connecticut and, in 1974, they began franchising out the restaurants.[4] They also introduced Subway's current logo and changed the name of their operation from what was then "Pete's Subway" to "Subway Sandwiches".[5]
[edit] Success
The company reached the height of its success after issuing a marketing campaign starring Jared Fogle in the early 2000s.[6] Subway now has over 30,000 franchised locations in 91 countries, making it the largest submarine sandwich chain in the world.
Among Buck's philanthropic works, he donated the Carmen Lucia ruby to the gem collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History[7] and gave a grant to Bowdoin College in 2009 that completed its capital campaign.[8] Consequently, the college's new fitness center bears his name.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ 2008 Honorary Degree Recipients (Bowdoin, Office of Events and Summer Programs)
- ^ Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame- Fred Deluca
- ^ Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame- Fred De Luca
- ^ Entrepreneur.com
- ^ Subway Sandwiches history
- ^ American Way Magazine Interview with Fred De Luca
- ^ The Washington Post
- ^ Bowdoin Orient article
- ^ Bowdoin College website
