John Phelan is the Founder and Chairman of Rugger Management LLC. Previously he was Managing Partner and Co-Founder of MSD Capital, LP, the private investment firm for Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies.

John currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the Whitney Museum of American Art and at the Aspen Art Museum, the Board of Dean’s Advisors for the Harvard Business School, the Investment Committee for the SMU Endowment, and the North American Advisory Board for the London School of Economics. John is also the Chief Operating Officer at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics and Political Science from SMU. He holds a General Course degree with an emphasis in Economics and International Relations from the London School of Economics. John currently serves on Spirit of America’s Board of Directors.