"My career in electric power engineering is built on the strong foundation Purdue provided me, especially from Professors Ahmed El-Abiad and Jerry Heydt. The Delta Sigma Phi social fraternity provided many leadership opportunities and taught me valuable leadership skills that have helped me throughout my career."

 

John McDonald received his BSEE and MSEE degrees from Purdue in 1973 and 1974, respectively. He received an MBA in finance from the University of California-Berkeley in 1978. McDonald, who has enjoyed a 35-year career in the electric utility transmission and distribution (T&D) industry as a supplier and consultant, is currently the General Manager of Marketing for GE Energy T&D. Prior to joining GE, he served as Vice President, Automation for the Power System Automation business of KEMA Consulting. John is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi, is a Fellow of IEEE, and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award in 2002, and the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award in 2003. John is Past President of the IEEE PES, CIGRE US National Committee (USNC) VP Technical Activities, Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee, IEEE Division VII Director, and is a registered Professional Engineer (Electrical) in California, Pennsylvania and Georgia. John teaches a course on Modern Energy Management Systems at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a course on Smart Grid for GE Energy, and has published 31 articles and papers and co-authored three books. John is a member of DOE’s Smart Grid Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC), a member of NEMA’s Smart Grid Task Force, and is on the Board of Directors of the GridWise Alliance. He has been President of two homeowners associations, President of his adult Sunday School class, and Cub Scout Den Leader and Boy Scout Assistant Scoutmaster. McDonald resides in Duluth, Georgia with his wife, Jo-Ann. He and Jo-Ann have two children.