John Durkin served on the TAC executive committee with me, and it was nice to get a glimpse of his life experiences. When John was admitted to the Navy ROTC on a full scholarship with a stipend, it was a significant first step towards a career path in business and finance. His expertise in handling situations during crises was a blessing to prominent corporations, such as Nike Japan, J-phone (Vodafone), Nikko Cordial Financial Group, and Citibank. John played a key role as CFO in Japan's biggest M&A deal with Softbank in 2006. After a brief hiatus in Singapore, John came out of "decompression" and joined a private equity firm.