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realize at the time was that trip would play a significant role in his future beyond W&J. After graduation, Frazier wasn’t sure what to do next. That’s when his friend Emily Thompson ’11 mentioned that she could help him get a job teaching English as a second language at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, where she had spent the previous year.
John Frazier III What can you do with an English and philosophy double major and a minor in east Asian studies? If you’re John Frazier III ’12, you do a little bit of everything. Frazier has taught in Asia, earned his master’s degree in public and international affairs, served as CEO of a technology startup, and currently works as COO of his family’s glass company. His path from college to COO has not been a straight shot, but his ability to adapt has served him well at each turn. He started at W&J as a sophomore, transferring after spending his first semester at Bucknell University. Though Frazier grew up near Washington, Pa., and generations of his family attended W&J, he had been looking to branch out from the area and experience something new. But he quickly discovered that everything he was looking for in his education could be found at the place he’d known all his life. 17
SUMMER 2018 MAGAZINE
He hit a speed bump early in his time at W&J, when lackluster grades in economics and accounting deterred him from the business major he’d planned to pursue. He switched gears and focused on his love for English and writing instead, taking advantage of a wide variety of opportunities including theater, radio, and the newspaper. However, one trip abroad during his sophomore year would give him another interest to pursue. “I went to China on an intersession trip with Dr. Gai and it was life-changing,” Frazier said. “We went to five or six cities around China, one of them being Hong Kong. I decided that I wanted to learn more, so I took a history course or two with Dr. Caffrey and a year of Chinese language with Dr. Yang.” The trip to China led Frazier to pick up a minor in East Asian Studies. What he didn’t
“I accepted the job without thinking about it and it was one of the best years of my life,” Frazier said. “I really got to know students and it was wonderful.” He returned to the Pittsburgh area to work after his year abroad and was accepted into the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, with the recommendations of his W&J connections. As part of his graduate studies, he spent six months in South Korea at Seoul National University furthering his global education. In his pursuit to understand other languages and cultures, Frazier and some friends founded a technology startup called uTranslated Technologies, a re-imagining of language translation services that cut out the middlemen with the goal of making translation more streamlined and affordable. They first floated the idea for their company in 2015 at the Startup Blitz at Pitt, a 24-hour competition for student