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John Wesley (Jack) Yoest Jr. is an Associate Professor of Practice in Leadership and Management at The Catholic University of America. Professor Yoest is a senior business mentor in high-technology, medicine, non-profit, and new media consulting.
He served as the Public Member of the Foreign Service Officer Promotion Board for the US Department of State. He conducts management and staff training for Members of Congress.
His expertise is in management training and development, operations, sales, and marketing. He has worked with clients across the USA, India, and East Asia (China).
Professor Yoest is the author of The Memo, published by Post Hill Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster; Management by the Book, volumes one and two, published by Kendall Hunt; and Learning To Win, published by Innovative Ink Publishing, distributed by Kendall Hunt.
He has been published by Scripps-Howard, FOX Business News, Defense News, National Review Online, The Business Monthly, The Women’s Quarterly, and other outlets. He was a columnist for Small Business Trends and The Stream. He has appeared on C-SPAN and EWTN.
He is a member of the President Reagan Alumni Association. Yoest received a Fellowship from The Aspen Institute and currently serves on the Advisory Council for the Washington, DC Republican Party. He was appointed as an Alternate Delegate to the GOP National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 2024.
Professor Yoest served as a gubernatorial appointee in the Administration of Governor James Gilmore in the Commonwealth of Virginia. During his tenure in state government, he acted as the Chief Technology Officer for the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, where he was responsible for the successful Year 2000 (Y2K) conversion for the 16,000-employee unit. He also served as the Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Resources, acting as the Chief Operating Officer of the $5 billion budget.
Prior to this post, Professor Yoest managed entrepreneurial, start-up ventures, which included medical device companies, high technology, software manufacturers, and business consulting companies.
His experience includes managing the transfer of patented biotechnology from the National Institutes of Health to his client. He served as Vice President of Certified Marketing Services International, an ISO 9000 business-consulting firm, where he assisted international companies in human resource certification.
And he also served as President of Computer Applications Development and Integration (CADI), the premier provider of software solutions for the criminal justice market.
Professor Yoest served in sales with Menlo Care, a start-up medical device manufacturer that was acquired by Johnson & Johnson.
Professor Yoest is a former Captain in the United States Army, having served in Combat Arms. He earned an MBA from George Mason University and completed graduate work in the International Operations Management Program at Oxford University.
His first job out of high school was selling Kirby Vacuum Cleaners door-to-door.
He is a credentialed Brake Mechanic, certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE).
His movie credits include the mini-series, Sally Hemings: An American Scandal with Diahann Carroll and Sam Neill, 2000, (background artist).
He served as a member of the Grubstake Breakfast for investors sponsored by the Century Club of George Mason University.
He served as an officer in the Civil Air Patrol, an Air Force Auxiliary.
He has been active on a number of Boards and has competed in 26.2-mile marathon runs. His wife, Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., is Executive Director for the Values Action Team for the House of Representatives and a former Vice President at the Heritage Foundation. She is a former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. She was also an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services and the former President and CEO of Americans United for Life, a public interest law firm.
They live in Washington, DC, and have five children and one grandchild.
Their eldest daughter is an NCAA National Crew Champion and four-time ACC Champion at the University of Virginia, now the Art Director of The Bulwark and wedding photography small business owner. She is currently attending the Rhode Island School of Design. She is married to a Pulitzer Prize-winning Editor at The Washington Post, who is studying at Harvard Divinity School.
Their eldest son was a pitcher and CAA Baseball Champion at The College of William & Mary, now a Captain in Army Aviation flying Blackhawk helicopters, and earning an MBA at UVA. He is married to an attorney in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.
Their middle daughter rowed and was a Patriot League medalist and president of the Physics Club at Bucknell University, now a physicist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and pursuing her Ph.D. at Hopkins. She is married to a civil engineer at Clark Construction.
Their youngest daughter was a backup singer to Eric Church and studies Music Business. She was a Cheerleader at American University, now a contractor at a personal services firm, and married to an IT manager, who is earning an MBA at NYU.
Their youngest son hit a home run at Cooperstown and played football at Stetson University, now playing at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California.
“A degree from CUA provides the student a competitive advantage in a crowded job market. The student will have learned how to do the work right and to do the right thing. Our graduates learn the art and craft of the practice of management in our classrooms and are equipped to make a positive difference in their chosen fields.”