John Poindexter is a third-generation Texan, a military veteran and an entrepreneur who lives in Houston and the Big Bend region of West Texas. His parents were middle-class Houstonians who sent him and his brother to public schools. | In 1966, John received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with Honors, from the University of Arkansas. Subsequently, New York University conferred on him a Master’s degree in Business Administration in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Economics and Finance in 1976. He taught economics and finance as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Long Island University while completing his doctoral dissertation at New York University. | Following his undergraduate education, John volunteered for the U.S. Army and for Officer Candidate School. After serving as President of his OCS class and of the Student Brigade at Fort Knox, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in Armor. John’s first assignment was with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Germany, where he was promoted to the command of L Troop. After Airborne and Ranger training, he volunteered for service in the Republic of South Vietnam where he was assigned to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. John commanded Headquarters Troop and Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, successively, in 1969 and 1970. In addition to two Purple Hearts, John was awarded a Silver Star, the Soldier’s Medal, two Bronze Stars, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, and several other decorations. | In 2009, the Presidential Unit Citation was conferred on John’s Vietnam command of four decades earlier, Alpha Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. The nation’s highest decoration for a combat unit was awarded to Alpha Troop for the “truly extraordinary” rescue “against all odds” of an American infantry company that was facing certain annihilation. The granting of the decoration was commemorated in a nationally televised ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House presided over by President Barack Obama. John led the 200-man relief force, the principal element of which was Alpha Troop, which effectuated the rescue mission. A nationally released hardcover entitled Blackhorse Riders, in which John is the principal protagonist, describes the rescue mission and the White House Ceremony. | After his military service and a portion of his graduate education, John began a financial career in New York City. He joined Salomon Brothers as an investment banker in 1971 but within a few years transitioned into private equity investment. Later, he became a partner at Smith Barney Venture Corporation, an affiliate of Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. Later still, in 1983, he was Managing Partner of two investment partnerships, KD/P Equities and J.B. Poindexter & Co., L.P., which acquired companies with aggregate revenues of more than $1 billion. | John is the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and sole owner of J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc., a diversified manufacturing company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company has six profitable subsidiaries, with combined revenues of almost $1 billion and 5,000 valued team members. The company is the largest producer in the world of commercial truck bodies through its Morgan Corporation subsidiary. Its Leer, Century, Raider and Pace Edwards brands are prominent names in pickup truck caps and tonneaus, an industry in which it also is the world leader. Its Morgan Olson subsidiary is the largest worldwide fabricator of high-capacity delivery vans for UPS (the ubiquitous brown truck), FedEx and others. Through its remaining subsidiaries, J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc. produces highly machined components for energy and industrial applications, limousines and hearses, and engineered packaging. | John’s home, the 30,000-acre Cíbolo Creek Ranch, is a popular resort and the site of three restored adobe forts and other historical structures, all built beginning in the 1850s by Hispanic and Anglo pioneers. It has been awarded three listings in the National Register of Historic Places, displays five Texas State Historical Markers, and has received three national and state awards for architecture among other honors. The ranch is used by local and statewide cultural, academic, business and civic organizations for meetings and other functions. On display is a wide range of Hispanic, Native American and pioneer artifacts, as well as items recovered during the archeological phase of the restoration of the property. John actively directed the development of the ranch beginning in 1990 and has written a book, now in a second edition, describing its history. | In West Texas, John is a member of the Director’s Advisory Council of the Museum of the Big Bend and was Chairman of its Development Committee. Also, John has served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the McDonald Observatory, on the Council of Overseers of the Jones School of Management at Rice University, and as a Director of the YMCA of the Greater Houston Area, where he was Chairman of the Financial Development Committee. | Poindexter was Chairman of the Finance Committee and Treasurer of the Texas Education Reform Caucus and Foundation, a member of the Advisory Board of the Houston Technology Center as well as a Trustee of the Blackhorse Association, a veterans’ affiliate of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He has been a Trustee of The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Foundation and is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and Alpha Kappa Psi, both honorary scholastic fraternities. John is a Prior of the International Order of St. Hubertus, a 325-year-old association of North American and European sportsmen. | In 2010, the Stern School of Business at New York University honored John with the C. Walter Nichols Award that is conferred annually on a leader who “exemplifies the qualities of integrity, enterprise and service.” Also in 2010, Sul Ross University in the Big Bend established the School of Professional Studies John B. Poindexter Speakers Series. The Borderlands Research Institute in Alpine, Texas funded the John B. Poindexter Endowed Fund for Desert Quail Research in 2014 with contributions from a sizeable number of John’s friends. | In 2013, John began a property acquisition and land and historical homes restoration effort that by 2014 included 2,500 acres situated near Williamsburg, Virginia. The acquired property is again become farming acreage and managed forests characteristic of the colonial era; three old homes, one dating to the 1670’s, are being restored to their original appearances and furnished with period pieces. Near the center of the Virginia property is Criss Cross Planation, constructed about 1690 by John’s ancestor, George Poingdestre. | John is the author of privately published works on historical, military, genealogical and economic subjects and is competent in Spanish, the working language of the Cíbolo Creek Ranch.