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CHARACTERS IN COFFEE continued from page 29 AT ORIGIN: An unofficial advisor to the Coffee Board of India, Dr. John (right) here poses with Vijayan Rajes, vice chairman of the board, and Dr. Govindarajan, director of the country's Central Coffee Research Institute. Q: A: What did you do when you finished your doctorate? I got my Ph.D. in June 1968, then I moved to San Diego and worked for a nuclear company. Most of the work I was doing there was for the U.S. government, both for the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense. We were in a national turmoil—1968 was not the most peaceful time in the U.S. The Vietnam War was at its peak, and the opposi- tion to the war was everywhere. We were in San Diego from 1968 to 1983, and during that time I transitioned to business. I was originally working for a company called Gulf General Atomic that was part of Gulf Oil. Gulf sold us in 1972, but the com- pany they sold us to turned out to be technically bank- rupt. That company folded, and I took on the job of rebuilding our department at Gulf. When I left, the company was on the American Stock Exchange and the stock was worth about $15 million. That was my business education—hands-on, and essentially building the company back up while I was still 30 COFFEE ALMANAC 2012 working as a scientist. After that I became a turnaround special- ist, and that's what brought me to the Bay Area. I did that until about 1991; that's when I started working on Josuma, which was established in 1992. Q: A: How did your coffee career come about? I was asked to do a study of the specialty cof- fee industry by some financial interests. When I It was not by design. It was really just sheer accident. I had never had any intention of being in the coffee business. looked at the specialty coffee industry and talked to people, it became obvious to me that what was special about the specialty coffee industry was a good cup of coffee. The coffee industry in the United States never taught the public how to make a good cup of coffee, or what made a good cup of coffee … unlike in Europe, where many people in many countries drank a good cup of coffee as a rule. Up to that point, I was a frustrated coffee drinker. An important discovery for me was learning that coffee chem- istry is very peculiar. The sweet parts of coffee come out very continued on page 32