MemberProfile
John Chamberlin began his career working at poultry hatcheries his father managed, later programmed computers summers at a integrated poultry firm.. His army service was as Chief Budget Analyst for the UA Army Materiel Command in Europe. In 1972 he moved to Little Rock to work in development for a then small firm, Systematics. In 1975 he left to form his own firm, Arkansas Systems.
The early years at Arkansas Systems involved diverse development work and searching for a niche. Eventually the niche appeared in the form of ATM systems and other online financial networks for banks. In the 1980s Arkansas Systems developed a large market in banks in the US and globally. In the 1990s they put the first ATMs on Red Square, installed check processing in China, and served customers in 60 countries. John did a lot of travel to make this happen! One of the client companies was Euronet. Euronet, using Arkansas Systems software, eventually drove half the ATMs in much of Eastern Europe. In 1998 Euronet acquired Arkansas Systems. John remained with Euronet Worldwide until 2001.
John earned a MS in Operations Research at MIT and a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State. John also attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Since 2001 John has been involved with technology start-ups as investor, board member and mentor. He worked with teams in varied programs, including the I-Fund that he co-founded.
John was an original member of the Southern Technology Council and has served on not for profit boards, including the Arkansas Nature Conservancy, the EAST Initiative and the Arkansas Community Foundation. He spent 9 years on the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, and served as its chair.
He and his wife Shannon have three adult children and three grandchildren.