John Strackhouse

Vice Chairman, Caldwell 
Board Member, Penn State Smeal College of Business Board of Visitors

John Strackhouse ’79 - Recognized by MIT as one of the nation’s top executive recruiters, John Strackhouse serves as a Vice Chairman at Caldwell. His practice recruits transformational talent to the boards and leadership teams of deep tech/hard tech companies, often backed by Family Offices.

As an investor and former public company executive, John understands firsthand the materiality of exceptional leadership and the value it creates. Throughout his career, he has leveraged his passion for recruiting top talent as the driving force for helping his clients achieve sizeable outcomes.

John’s holistic approach and strong global relationships enable him to act as a trusted advisor on succession planning, talent acquisition, leadership, and company-building to clients across the spectrum of Family Offices, their portfolio companies, private equity and venture capital firms, and growth-oriented public companies.

In 2014, John joined Caldwell from Heidrick & Struggles, where he had an accomplished 19-year career as a senior partner in the Board & CEO practices. Earlier in his tenure, he established and co-led Heidrick & Struggles’ global e-business practice, which grew to become the largest practice in the firm at the time. He was also the key architect in building the firm’s relationship with the World Economic Forum and placed some of the most influential leaders of the Forum.

John is frequently quoted in leading publications, including Financial Times, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and Fortune, on topics ranging from global talent management and board effectiveness to C-suite leadership. He has also been a featured contributor at the World Economic Forum.

Before joining Heidrick & Struggles, John worked for British Petroleum (ARCO) and was a general manager for the TAB Products Company. During his early career, he held a progression of management positions in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Toronto, Canada.

He received his BA from Pennsylvania State University and serves on the Board for Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. John is Chairman of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University. Additionally, he was previously a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship and also served on the Global Agenda Council on Skills & Talent Mobility.