Donna A. James - Joined Nationwide Insurance

In 1981 Scott was recruited as an accounting specialist by Nationwide, based in Columbus. She became a one-woman accounting and finance office for Nation-wide's first heath maintenance organization (HMO). Over the following decade she moved rapidly up the corporate ladder, holding various management positions in accounting operations and compliance and in annuities, pensions, and mutual-fund operations for Nationwide's tax-shelter-products division.

In 1989 Donna Scott married Larry James, an attorney and later a full partner with Crabbe, Brown, & James in Columbus. Larry James's son, Justin Michael, was the same age as Christopher Michael, and they formed a close-knit family of four.

Donna James was named director of operations and treasury services in 1990. In 1993 she became executive assistant to Nationwide's chairman and CEO, Dimon R. McFerson. In this position she was exposed to the management of all of Nationwide's business divisions. Three years later she was named vice president of the human resources (HR) division.