John developed a love for Opera in the early nineties while working in London. He had the opportunity to attend several performances in the English Opera House, where they had the innovative idea of having electronic boards over the stage with English translations of the performance so more people could better follow the plot and become fans of the genre (it worked). Since then, he further developed a passion after watching Pavarotti in Central Park (one of his first dates with his wife) and the singer’s performance in Prague. John is still a novice in Opera but has followed his love for music in performances worldwide, including in New York, Vienna, and Hong Kong.
John grew up in Maryland but worked overseas for over 25+ years and recently returned in 2020. He moved to Lexington with his wife, who has a passion for horses, and has two children who both work in New York city.
John joined UK Gatton’s Department of Finance in the Fall of 2022. Before joining the faculty team, he worked for 30+ years as an investment professional, senior executive, and management consultant.
John was a Partner in Doma Capital, an investment firm focused on acquiring iconic brands, distinctive real assets, and industry leaders. Previously, he was a Partner at Orion Partners, managing over $1 Billion in private equity & real estate. John has invested in companies across industries, countries, and sizes. These have included the buyout of Philips Semiconductor business (Nexperia), transportation, chemical, agriculture, and fast food (Burger King). At Orion, he was also the CEO of a publicly listed company with diversified industrial/consumer businesses with $900 mil revenue and 2800 employees.
Before joining Orion, John was the Managing Director of Cisco Systems Consulting (Asia Pacific), where he worked with leading companies and governments to improve their businesses/organizations. Before Cisco, he was the Founder & CEO of Similan.com, a regional e- commerce company that grew into ten countries, and the COO of Eutech, an enterprise software company. He was also a Principal at Booz Allen, co-heading the telecom, media, and technology strategy practice based in New York, London, and Hong Kong. He has also been a part-time model (e.g., Heineken Beer commercial, side of buses, etc.)
He has served on the Boards of innovative start-ups, multi-billion-dollar global businesses, various companies across industries & regions, and private equity/real estate investment funds.
John has a passion for travel, history, and experiencing diverse cultures and has lived, worked, and traveled in over 25 countries.
John holds an MBA in finance, a Master of Engineering, and a BS from Cornell University and was a Knight Scholar.
