John Morgan, Sr. is a native of Swainsboro, Georgia, where he graduated from high school in 1965, the son of Jimmy and Gaynelle Morgan.  John comes from a multigenerational line of yeoman farmers and tradesmen and matriarchs living upon the timeless piney woods land of East Georgia.

John is married to Frances O’Connor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Fran is a graduate of the University of Alabama and completed her graduate work at George Washington University.  They have three children and six grandchildren. Fran is a grief counselor and homemaker.

John graduated from Emory University in 1969 with an accounting degree. After a brief time in banking in Orlando he joined the Citizens and Southern National Bank in Atlanta as an investment manager. In 1979 John and eight others bought the investment management division of the bank to form an independent investment management company, Invesco Capital Management. The partners of Invesco grew the company into a worldwide capital management enterprise. John retired from Invesco in 2000.

John has owned and managed a number of businesses including Morgan Timber and Newsome Outdoor Advertising. He has developed and sold private recreational retreats. John’s business activities include master development projects and real estate ventures along the South Carolina coast.

In 2010 John and his son, John Morgan, Jr. formed South Coast Commercial. This privately held real estate company has steadily grown to become a significant player in the ownership of the unanchored retail space across the Southeast and Southwest.

John served as chairman of the board of Plum Creek Timber Company located in Seattle. After Plum Creek merged with Weyerhaeuser, also in Seattle, John served on that company board until his retirement in 2019. He was a member of Atlanta-based Post Properties board of directors as well until that company was acquired by Mid American Apartments in 2017.

John has served on several civic and service boards. He was a member of the Emory University Board of Trustees for 21 years, serving as chairman of the Finance Committee for 13 years and then as Chairman of the board for four years.

Fran and John reside in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. They established the John and Frances Morgan Fund in 2020, ensuring that their commitment to Georgia history will continue in perpetuity.