On the shelves of John D. Porcari ’81’s home office sit an array of model vehicles — trains, planes and ships — mixed with family photos, a street sign that reads “Porcari Way” and a framed photograph of him at the podium of the White House press briefing room from his time as Port and Supply Chain Envoy for the White House during the pandemic-induced supply chain crisis.
It is a fitting backdrop for someone whose career has always been on the move, and whose life’s work has been devoted to how communities, cities and the nation get from one place to another.
“My kids call it the museum,” Porcari said with a laugh. “I try to rotate the exhibits periodically.”
Talking to Porcari feels a lot like visiting that museum. Each turn of conversation reveals another story from a career spanning local and state government, federal leadership and major international infrastructure projects. While public service was already a family tradition, his specific career path began to take shape during his time at the University of Dayton.
Porcari’s path to UD was not the result of a grand plan. Instead, it started with a Greyhound bus ticket and a weekend visit to see his older brother, Jim, who was already a student.
“When I was in high school, I rode the bus from Rochester to Dayton and spent a couple of days with my brother. And that was it. I was hooked. I felt at home the first time I set foot on campus as a visiting high school student. There’s something about the atmosphere; it’s a very welcoming place.”
That welcoming atmosphere caught the attention of his entire family. His younger brother, Chuck, followed him to UD. John met his wife, Heidi, on campus. Decades later, the legacy continued when three of John and Heidi’s five children attended UD. Heidi’s father is also an alumnus.
“We have some third-generation Flyers,” Porcari said proudly.
From day one, Porcari knew he wanted to major in political science. His father was a city official in Rochester, New York, and his grandfather was a public servant.
“I kind of grew up in church basements at public meetings,” he said.
While his passion for policy was lifelong, an interdisciplinary senior project at UD helped him see how he could impact infrastructure. Porcari took a joint political science and engineering course focused on neighborhood revitalization and renewal in the city of Dayton.
“It was a bunch of engineering students and, like, two or three political science students,” Porcari said. “But we were out there in a specific neighborhood in Dayton – the Five Oaks neighborhood – basically trying to quantify what would be needed to make it a better community. That was a great example of cross-fertilization. I still have the report.”
Porcari credits faculty members like Pat Palermo and Margaret Karns for helping shape his worldview, although he said the most important lessons he absorbed were those taught through the campus culture itself.
“I think of it as kind of marinating in Marianism,” Porcari said. “It’s more implicit than explicit, at least to me, but I think it was a critical part of the education. The values we have, the values we’ve tried to instill in our children, are just entirely consistent with UD. If you’re a student at UD, you’ve been given a great opportunity, and so you try to make something of it.”
After graduating with his bachelor’s degree in 1981, Porcari earned a master of public administration with a concentration in local government management from the State University of New York at Albany. Though trained to be a city manager, his early career focus on economic development pulled him toward transportation.
“The more time I spent on economic development work – like a new employer needing bus service, or international air service, or a highway interchange – the more it was transportation-related,” he said. “It’s kind of two halves of the same coin. Transportation is an enabler for economic development, but also quality of life and a better environment.”
His approach to building infrastructure led him to state government as Maryland’s secretary of transportation. Then, in 2009, he received a call from the White House.
“It was the honor of a lifetime,” Porcari said. “President Obama was pretty explicit about this call to public service – the call to give back and give something. And so, I leapt at the opportunity.”
Confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Porcari became deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the chief operating officer of the federal department, managing a $70 billion budget and 55,000 employees globally during an economic crisis. More recently, the Biden administration appointed him the Port and Supply Chain Envoy to the White House to help clear bottlenecked goods at the nation’s largest ports.
Today, Porcari is the managing director for public policy and partnerships at Investcorp Corsair, splitting his time between Washington, D.C., and New York City via Amtrak.
Porcari remains involved with UD. He serves on the advisory board for UD’s Human Rights Center, helping guide students and participating in programs like Dayton2DC to mentor current undergraduates.
“From a national and international perspective, it’s amazing the work that they’re doing at the Human Rights Center and the reach that they have,” Porcari said. “I just wish it existed when I was there … I think that it’s a unique, critically needed function – more than ever in these times. It keeps us fresh and helps identify ways that you can contribute.”
This fall, Porcari returns to campus to receive UD’s Distinguished Alumni Award. While the honor celebrates a career defined by public impact, Porcari said his greatest achievement is a milestone he celebrated this summer: his 40th wedding anniversary.
“I’m a real believer that all of us can make a lot of bad choices in life and make a lot of mistakes. I’ve made my share and I’ve probably made your share for you!” Porcari said. “But there’s one thing you need to get right: you need to find the right person. I got lucky at the one thing that actually matters.”