Millennium Magazine_8th Ed

158 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY travel to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as a records management clerk. For the following 30 years, Mr. Popovich experienced a wide variety of cultures across the globe upon accepting roles within the administration management industry. He held assignments in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Ecuador, Yemen, Panama and Egypt, among other locations. Likewise, he excelled as division chief for overseas personnel, in which he was responsible for worldwide assignments and promotions. Prior to his retirement in 1993, he flourished as the assistant inspector general for resource management in the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Post- retirement, Mr. Popovich continued for 10 years as a contractor with USAID, visiting Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania, Ukraine, Vietnam and Hungary. Looking forward, he intends to continue enjoying his retirement. G rowing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, John E. Popovich was exposed to people of various cultures and backgrounds. With many friends of Asian American descent, he enjoyed listening to their parents discuss their experiences growing up in Asia. From these relationships, he developed the desire to pursue a formal career in history, in which he could become educated on cultures worldwide. In 1952, Mr. Popovich enlisted in the United States Army and attended the Army Language School in Monterey, California, where he studied the Russian language. Shortly thereafter, he was deployed to Tokyo at the close of the Korean War and dedicated the subsequent two years of his service to efforts in Kyoto, known as the historical and cultural center of Japan. Upon his honorable discharge from the military, Mr. Popovich matriculated at the University of San Francisco, obtaining a BS in history in 1958. In the early stages of his professional career, he was employed by General Steamship Corporation and ICA, the latter of which provided him the opportunity to JOHN E. POPOVICH ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (RETIRED) U.S. Agency for International Development Cary, NC