John began his professional life as a civil engineer, where he commenced occasional assignments with the Defence Industry. He later made a mid-career change to the computer industry, and that association continued.
His engineering experiences encompassed major developments in Australia’s Northern Territory, Canberra, and the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, PNG. John then worked for several major IT providers, especially with respect to air traffic and air defense. This expanded whilst employed by Microsoft, as a marketer and technical adviser, especially assisting Australia’s Defence Forces in modernizing their IT infrastructure.
He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2007 for community service through Rotary and the Anglican Church (in a major construction oversight role). In 2011, he was invested as a Knight of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, an honor bestowed on individuals in recognition of their works of Christian charity. He also was a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
John was the chair of ShelterBox Australia in 2012 and has since retired as a director after nine years in that role. Through ShelterBox, John assisted in delivering help to victims of the Japanese tsunami and earthquake in 2011.
A Rotarian since 1988, John has served RI as Director, Chairman of RI/TRF’s Audit Committee, board liaison for the Future Vision Committee, RI convention promotion member, RI training leader, and before that was District Governor (2000-01 D9710). In 2014, John served as moderator of the RRFC institute, followed by numerous RI assignments during the next decade.
John is a long-term supporter of RI’s Peace Centres, recently served on its committee (2021- 2024). John continues as a “Reader” for RPF applicants’ assessment and as a member of Rotary? U.Qld’s Peace Centre’s ‘Rotary Advisory Board’. John is a recipient of Rotary’s Service Above Self Award.
John’s partner Pam Davis was his late wife Janet’s closest childhood friend. John has four sons – Peter and two grandsons live in Boulder, CO, USA; Andrew and wife Megan and two granddaughters live in Sydney; Richard lives in Brisbane; Chris and partner Carmille and daughter Lily live in Melbourne.
John currently serves as a Director of BELRAG for this region. He champions the educational project “Teacher in a Box”, providing resources to remote populations in some 24 countries – distributing Kto12 + learning without the need for internet connectivity. With Pam he has undertaken TiB deployments in Indonesia, where she acts as TiB Facilitator for Indonesia.
John is a current and ongoing Director of his current Rotary Club, R.C. Canberra.
