John E. (Jack) McGrath (MSIA ’61) (Emeritus T)
Jack McGrath enjoyed a distinguished 45-year career at Booz Allen Hamilton, retiring as a senior vice president with a specialty developing corporate renewal strategies.
He assisted both CEO’s and the boards of Fortune 100 public corporations in making significant strategic transformations. McGrath has also been deeply committed to Carnegie Mellon University, demonstrating his generous support in numerous ways.
A Pittsburgh native, McGrath earned his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Notre Dame before he returned for his master’s at the Tepper School of Business.
Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton, he served in the U.S. Army and spent a short time with IBM. A number of years later, McGrath had a meeting with his former Tepper School professor Richard Cyert, who was then the Carnegie Mellon president. Cyert introduced McGrath to the new Tepper School dean, Robert Kaplan.
As McGrath recalls, “Bob had little business experience. Together we put something called the Business Advisory Council together with a group of executives that would give Bob advice. That council is still in place today [as the Tepper Business Board of Advisors]. It's been in place for over 40 years. I've been fortunate to be a part of it since the very beginning.”
McGrath has since become a Carnegie Mellon life trustee, served as co-chair of the successful Tepper School Quad campaign, established scholarships, and enabled the Jack and Brigitte McGrath Learning and Teaching Research Lab, among other things.
As a CMU trustee since 1995, he has worked closely with four university presidents. He has additionally served on the boards of many nonprofit organizations.
For his outstanding service, McGrath was honored with the Carnegie Mellon Alumni Association’s 2020 Alumni Service Award.