John Schlifske is chairman and chief executive officer of Northwestern Mutual. He is also a member of the company’s Board of Trustees.

After joining Northwestern Mutual in 1987 as an investment specialist, Schlifske moved from portfolio manager to senior executive overseeing a variety of the company’s investment operations. He later headed different parts of the company’s business operations.

Schlifske is a director on the board of Kohl’s Corporation. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the American Council of Life Insurers’ Board of Directors and, in the greater Milwaukee community, he serves on the board of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

A Milwaukee-area native, Schlifske received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Carleton College and a master’s degree in finance and accounting from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is married to Kim, and they have six children.