John F. McDonnell

John F. McDonnell is actively involved in establishing a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in St. Louis. He is founding chairman of the board of BioSTL. Prior to that, he was founding chairman of BioGenerator (now part of BioSTL), which provides direct funding and support to researchers, entrepreneurs, and young companies in the life sciences in this region. He is also involved in developing economic clusters in the fields of advanced manufacturing and location sciences.

McDonnell retired as Chairman of the Board of McDonnell Douglas Corporation in 1997 after a more than 35-year career at the company. He was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1988, a position he held until September 1994. From then until his retirement in 1997 at the time of the merger with Boeing, he was Chairman of the Board. He then served as a member of the Boeing Board of Directors until April 2012.

McDonnell has also served on numerous other civic boards and as chairman of the boards of Washington University in St. Louis, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Saint Louis Science Center, and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

McDonnell earned bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautical engineering from Princeton University and a master's in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis.