John Donnelly

Biography

John Donnelly, head of HR at JPMorgan Chase, has seen a lot of changes since he was a student at Cornell’s ILR School – such as the name used to describe Human Resource courses. Back then, the courses and degree were referred to as “Personnel Management.” “The function, formerly for hiring people and onboarding and paying people, has undergone unbelievable change,” reflects Donnelly. “Most times in the past, the head of HR reported to someone known as the chief administrative officer. Today, in most cases, the CHRO reports directly to the Chairman and CEO. This job has a seat at the senior table,” he says. “People are looking for the function to be much more involved in setting human capital strategies and in leadership and succession planning. That’s really changed.” Thirty years after Donnelly started his career, he was thrust into another transformation – one of massive proportion. “When I joined JPMorgan Chase in 2009, we were in the middle of the financial crisis, and JPMorgan Chase had been asked by the United States government to acquire Bear Stearns -- and then to bid for Washington Mutual (we ended up being selected) -- in an unbelievably short period of time,” recalls Donnelly. “Normally, acquisitions of that size and complexity are spaced out over the course of years: doing two in that time frame – it was all hands on deck.” Prior to his time at JPMorgan Chase, Donnelly served as Head of HR for Salomon Smith Barney from 1994-2000 and then he ultimately served as Global Head of Human Resources at Citigroup Inc. until the end of 2008.

Research Interest

John Donnelly, head of HR at JPMorgan Chase, has seen a lot of changes since he was a student at Cornell’s ILR School – such as the name used to describe Human Resource courses. Back then, the courses and degree were referred to as “Personnel Management.” “The function, formerly for hiring people and onboarding and paying people, has undergone unbelievable change,” reflects Donnelly. “Most times in the past, the head of HR reported to someone known as the chief administrative officer. Today, in most cases, the CHRO reports directly to the Chairman and CEO. This job has a seat at the senior table,” he says. “People are looking for the function to be much more involved in setting human capital strategies and in leadership and succession planning. That’s really changed.” Thirty years after Donnelly started his career, he was thrust into another transformation – one of massive proportion. “When I joined JPMorgan Chase in 2009, we were in the middle of the financial crisis, and JPMorgan Chase had been asked by the United States government to acquire Bear Stearns -- and then to bid for Washington Mutual (we ended up being selected) -- in an unbelievably short period of time,” recalls Donnelly. “Normally, acquisitions of that size and complexity are spaced out over the course of years: doing two in that time frame – it was all hands on deck.” Prior to his time at JPMorgan Chase, Donnelly served as Head of HR for Salomon Smith Barney from 1994-2000 and then he ultimately served as Global Head of Human Resources at Citigroup Inc. until the end of 2008.