Our Leadership
John J. Dooner, Jr.
Emeritus Board Member Worldwide Board of Trustees
Chairman The Dooner Group
New York, New York
John J. Dooner Jr currently is Chairman Emeritus of McCann Worldgroup, a company he formed in 1997. From 2000 to 2003, he was Chairman & CEO of Interpublic Group (IPG: NYSE), McCann Worldgroup’s parent company. John led McCann Worldgroup as Chairman, CEO from 1997 to 2000, and again from 2003 to 2011, when he assumed the Chairman Emeritus post. In 2019, John was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. That same year, he also was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from St. Thomas University.
John began his career with McCann Erickson in 1984, rising to Worldwide President in 1992. In 1997, as Chairman & CEO he created and launched the McCann Worldgroup, one of the world’s leading marketing communication companies comprised of eight companies which themselves are global leaders in both size and perception in their respective fields. The company operates in over 120 countries with 23,000 employees and $3 billion in revenue. The client roster includes preeminent global marketers and many of the world’s famous Brands.
In addition to McCann Erickson Worldwide, the Worldgroup is comprised of such leading brands as MRM (digital marketing/relationship management), Momentum (event marketing/promotion), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (global adaptation and production), UM (media management), Weber Shandwick (public relations), and FutureBrand (consulting/design).
As a long time industry leader, John is the former Vice Chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), former Chairman of the Ad Council and Member of the Board of the Advertising Education Foundation (AEF). He has been honored with a number of industry awards including the National Human Relations Award from The American Jewish Committee; the AEF Agency Award from the Advertising Educational Foundation; and he was named Adweek magazine’s East Coast Executive of the Year. Under John’s leadership McCann Erickson was named “Agency of the Year/Global Agency of the Year” six times by the leading advertising publications in both the US and Europe.
His outside Board of Director posts include:
Ethan Allen (ETH NYSE). John was elected to the board in 2011 and continues to serve on both the Nominating and Compensation Committees. Located in Danbury, CT.
St Thomas University (STU). In 2013, John was elected, and remains, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He joined the board in 2004. STU has a student population of over 5,000 students. Located in Miami Gardens, Florida.
United Way Worldwide. He was elected the first Chairman of United Way Worldwide in 2011, after the merger of United Way of America with United Way International in 2009. He has been a Board member since 2007. UWW, the world’s largest not-for-profit organization, operates in 41 countries with $5.1 Billion in charitable giving. Located in Alexandria, Washington DC.
Additional current and past not-for-profit boards include: Sound Shore Medical Center, New York, and Notre Dame Irish Council Trustee, South Bend Indiana. He is past Charter Member of the Presidents’ Advisory Council CARE, Atlanta; and Trustee of College of New Rochelle, New York.
Background/Personal: John’s business career began in 1970 in the media area of Grey Advertising. Three years later he joined an Interpublic agency and after a series of management posts, joined McCann in 1984. John is a graduate of St. Thomas University. He and his wife Cindy reside in Jupiter, Florida and Westchester, New York.