A longtime student of the Arabic language John G. McCarthy, Jr., is the Founder and Managing Director of John McCarthy Publishing that specializes in Arabic translations of international bestsellers and original works in Arabic by non-Arab authors.
John was formerly Managing Director of John McCarthy Associates, a top management executive search service. He is a US and Irish citizen who grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and graduated with a BA cum laude with Highest Honours in History from Williams College. He also attended Institut Le Rosey (Rolle, VD), Princeton University, and the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies in Shemlan, Lebanon.
John started his executive search career with Russell Reynolds Associates in 1977 as a partner in the London office. He built and ran the firm’s Middle East practice for eight years. In 1985, he opened RRA’s Geneva office focusing on financial services in Switzerland. In 1988, he joined Korn/Ferry as a Senior Officer and Managing Director of the firm’s International Search Group, a high-level, European cross-border specialty practice, spanning a variety of top positions and industries. He founded John McCarthy Associates in July 1993.
In addition to his professional work, John is a Trustee of International College in Beirut, Lebanon and a Vice President of the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth, England. In recent years he has served as Secretary of both Project HOPE’s European Advisory Board and Fondation Project HOPE in Switzerland, President of the American International Club of Geneva, and as a member of the Geneva Chapter Board of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce.
In parallel, John has enjoyed involvement in US politics – from abroad. Encouraged by his father to “get involved” in the great American democracy, and the fact that his mother was a cousin by marriage to a Walker, led John to volunteer for the team helping George Herbert Walker Bush run for the Republican Presidential nomination in ’79-’80. Having caught the political bug, he joined Republicans Abroad (RA), the overseas arm of the GOP, and served as Regional Chairman – Middle East, Country Chairman – Switzerland, and finally International Chairman ’89-’93 where he addressed the Republican National Convention in Houston in ’92.
John and his wife, Mary, have been married for over 35 years. He has two children and two step-daughters.
He contributed two hours of his life story to Legacy.