As president of The Olive Garden, and senior vice president of General Mills, Inc., Ron Magruder is responsible for the nation's largest chain of Italian dinner restaurants. His duties include the design and construction of Olive Garden and China Coast restaurants.

He was a conference champion wrestler at Central High School in Wheaton, Illinois, then entered business without attending college.

Magruder joined General Mills in 1972 as part of the Red Lobster operating team and advanced rapidly through various management positions. In 1981, he was named vice president for International Growth and Development, responsible for the expansion of Red Lobster in Japan and Canada. He became president of Casa Gallardo Mexican Restaurants in 1982 and president of York Steakhouse a year later.

In 1987, Magruder was named executive vice president of General Mills Restaurants and president of The Olive Garden, and became senior vice president of General Mills two years later.

Magruder's office is an Olive Garden. The color scheme is the same as that of his restaurants and his desk is a standard-issue Olive Garden table, complete with umbrella. He wants to keep his focus.

He was named Restaurant Operator of the Year in 1991, and received the Gold Chain Award that year and the Silver Plate Award in 1993. He is a frequent keynote speaker for hotel and restaurant conferences, and serves on business school advisory boards at three universities.

Magruder was general chairman of the United Negro College Fund Campaign in 1994, and chairman of Scouting for Food, a Boy Scouts of America project. He endowed a chair in restaurant management at the University of Central Florida.