John D. McDonald, P.E., is Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE Vernova's Grid Solutions business. John has 49 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution industry. John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. degrees from Purdue University and an M.B.A. degree from the University of California-Berkeley. John is a Life Fellow of IEEE, Past President of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), the VP for Technical Activities for the US National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. John teaches Smart Grid courses at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a Smart Grid course for GE, and Smart Grid courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer (since 1999). John has published one hundred fifty papers and articles, has co-authored five books, and has one US patent.