John Anthony Mundell

"Learning from your own failures is one of the keys to a successful career. Don’t fear failure. Embrace it!"

John Mundell was born and raised in and near Frankfort, Indiana, graduating from Clinton Prairie High School in 1975. John went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering in 1979 and 1980, respectively, with an emphasis in geotechnical engineering and engineering geology. A peak experience at Purdue University was marrying his wife Julie and two weeks later becoming counselors to 60 undergraduate girls housed in what had been married student housing.

John began his career at ATEC Associates in Indianapolis as a staff geotechnical engineer – working on the design of building and bridge foundations, retaining walls, roadways, dams, and landslides. He soon became involved in ATEC’s first environmental project – the closure of a hazardous waste landfill in southern Indiana. This ultimately led to his shift into the environmental field, investigating and remediating thousands of contaminated sites around the world. John went to graduate school at Notre Dame to earn a master’s degree in environmental engineering, conducting research on the transport of chemicals in porous media and their impact on the hydraulic properties of soils.

Returning to ATEC in 1988, John became the Vice President of Technical Services, leading ATEC’s expansion nationally to 45 offices with 2,900 employees, becoming the 25th largest environmental and geotechnical consulting company in the United States. During the last 30 years, John founded Mundell & Associates, an earth science and environmental consulting firm, whose clients have included multinational corporations, major U.S. cities, the U.S Department of Defense, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nations, and the Vatican.

John’s company has been part of a social business network called the Economy of Communion, using its profits to support global poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability and climate change action. In 2022, John was appointed by Pope Francis to lead the global Catholic Church’s efforts in sustainability as the Director of its Laudato Si’ Action Platform.

John and his wife Julie — also a Purdue graduate — have been married 46 years and have four children: Sarah, Andrew, Daniel, and James; and four grandchildren: River, Rocket, Poppy, and Quinn.