Dennis F. Strigl (born April 13, 1946) is an American corporate executive. He is the retired president, chief executive officer, and chief operating officer of

Verizon Communications Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

, responsible for operations at Verizon Telecom, Verizon Wireless and Verizon Business. He was appointed on January 1, 2007, and worked for Verizon for about three years until his retirement on December 31, 2009.

Career

Strigl was the lead executive in charge of integrating Verizon Wireless when that company was formed in April 2000, by combining the domestic wireless operations of

Bell Atlantic Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas i ...

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

AirTouch AirTouch Communications was an American wireless telephone service provider, created as a spin-off on Pacific Telesis on April 1, 1994. Its headquarters were in One California in the Financial District, San Francisco, California. After a series ...

and

GTE GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furth ...

. Previously, he served as president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile and group president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Global Wireless, the company's domestic and international wireless portfolio. Upon his retirement from Verizon on December 31, 2009, Strigl served in the

telecommunications industry The telecommunications industries within the sector of information and communication technology is made up of all telecommunications/telephone companies and internet service providers and plays a crucial role in the evolution of mobile communicati ...

for over 40 years. His telecommunications career began in 1968 with

New York Telephone The New York Telephone Company (NYTel) was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company. Predecessor companies The Telephone Company of New York was formed under franchise in 1876. The princi ...

Company. After this, he held positions at

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

and Wisconsin Telephone, Illinois Bell, before becoming vice president of

American Bell, Inc. AT&T Information Systems (ATTIS), originally known as American Bell, was the fully separate subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) which focused on computer technology ventures and telephone sales, and other unregulated busines ...

In 1984 he became president of

Ameritech Mobile Communications Ameritech Mobile Communications, LLC was the first company in the United States to provide cellular mobile phone service to the general public. Cell service became publicly available in Chicago on October 13, 1983. The company was a division of ...

. Strigl launched the nation's first cellular telephone network in Chicago, resulting in the Cellular Industry Achievement Award, which he was given for engineering advancement and pioneering in marketing programs. Applied Data Research, Inc., an Ameritech subsidiary was the next company in which he served for as president and chief executive officer. Starting in 1989, Strigl served as vice president-product management for Bell Atlantic Network Services, followed by his later position as vice president-operations and chief operating officer and a member of New Jersey Bell's board of directors. He was named president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems in 1991, and oversaw its merger with Metro Mobile CTS. In 1995, Bell Atlantic Mobile and Nynex Mobile merged. Strigl took over the company as CEO and president. Strigl was a founding member and served on the board of directors of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, the national industry association based in Washington, D.C., for many years. From 1996 to 1997 he served as the chairman of the association. He was inducted into The Wireless Hall of Fame in 2004 and received Wireless Week's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He serves on the boards of directors of Anadigics Inc., PNC Financial Services Group and PNC Bank. In September 2015 he ventured into a technology start-up, Smartiply, Inc. ( www.smartiply.com) in the area of Fog Networks and Internet of Things, where he serves as a board member and chairman of the board. He is a former director of Kodak, Nokia and Tellabs.

Academia

Strigl holds a degree in business administration from Canisius College in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

(where he served as a trustee and as chairman of the board of trustees) and a

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

Rutherford, New Jersey Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough's population was 18,834. Rutherford was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 21, 1881, fr ...

. He received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, in May 2011 from Canisius College and in May 2016 from Fairleigh Dickinson University.Dennis F. Strigl: President and Chief Operating Officer

. Accessed June 9, 2007. "Strigl holds a degree in business administration from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, N.J., which named him to its Pinnacle Society for distinguished alumni. He is married to Amanda Strigl and he has 5 children: Mike, Mark, Jenna, Casey and Chelsea. Dennis and his family currently reside in New Jersey." He has been a visiting professor at Princeton University since 2013 where he teaches an undergraduate level course in leadership. He is a licensed commercial pilot. Since retiring from Verizon he has written a management book and spoken to numerous groups on management leadership. He has been a frequent guest on the FOX News Channel, FOX Business, CNBC and MSNBC.

References

*http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-23-2001/0001560126&EDATE= *http://inside.fdu.edu/prpt/strglhonoree.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Strigl, Dennis F. Living people Canisius College alumni Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni Verizon Communications people American technology chief executives 1946 births Commercial aviators