Previous Alumni in Spotlight
John J. McDonnell
John J. McDonnell, Jr. ’61
Data transaction pioneer
Chairman and CEO
Phoenix Managed Networks

A serial entrepreneur, John J. McDonnell, Jr. is also an industry pioneer in the innovation of data communication services for processors of retail credit card, debit card and ATM transactions.

He most recently served as Chairman and CEO of terminal solutions provider Exadigm. Until October 2006, he was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of TNS Inc., the transaction communications company he founded in 1990, and sold to PSINet Inc. in November 1999, only to reacquire it from PSINet in 2001.

Between tours at TNS, Mr. McDonnell was Chief Executive Officer of PaylinX Corporation ("PaylinX"), which was sold to Cybersource in September 2000. Mr. McDonnell has served on the Cybersource board of directors ever since. Mr. McDonnell also serves on the Board of Directors of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRAK) as well as several privately held companies.

Phoenix Managed Networks (PMN) is a privately held payments company that was established in February 2010 as a joint venture between the McDonnell Group and Hypercom. The company provides acquirers, payment processors, banks and retailers worldwide with highly reliable and cost-effective data communications services for transaction-based applications. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with network operations centers in Phoenix, Arizona and Sheffield, England, PMN is an international services company focused exclusively on electronic payments.

Mr. McDonnell is one of the founding members of the Electronics Funds Transfer Association. He holds a BSEE from Manhattan College and an MSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2002, he was selected as the recipient of the William F. Glaser ’53 Rensselaer Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

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