Lowell Clayton McAdam (born May 28, 1954) is an American businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO 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 i ...
, a company he joined in 2000.
Early life
McAdam earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
and a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from the
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...
.
He spent six years in the U.S. Navy's
Civil Engineer Corps
The Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) is a staff corps of the United States Navy. CEC officers are professional engineers and architects, acquisitions specialists, and Seabee Combat Warfare Officers who qualify within Seabee units. They are responsib ...
and is a licensed
professional engineer
Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thro ...
.
Career
In 2006, McAdam became the
chief operating officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
(COO) and
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
(CEO) of
Verizon Wireless
Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...
. On September 20, 2010, parent company
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 i ...
announced he would be president and COO beginning October 1, 2010, succeeding
Ivan Seidenberg
Ivan Seidenberg (born December 10, 1946) is the former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications Inc.
His telecommunications career began more than 40 years ago when he joined New York Telephone, one of Verizon's predecessor companies, as a cabl ...
. He was made chairman of Verizon Communications on January 1, 2012, and its CEO on August 1, 2011. In June 2018, Verizon announced that McAdam would retire from his role as CEO on August 1, 2018, remaining executive chairman through the end of the year. He then concluded his tenure as non-executive chairman in March 2019.
McAdam had previously been the CEO for
PrimeCo Personal Communications, a joint venture 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 in ...
and
Vodafone AirTouch. He was vice president of international operations for AirTouch Communications and a lead technical partner for cellular ventures in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Korea and Japan. He joined
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 ...
as executive director of international applications and operations in 1993. From 1983 to 1993, he held various executive titles with
Pacific Bell
The Pacific Bell Telephone Company (Pacific Bell or Pac Bell) is a telephone company that provides telephone service in California. The company is owned by AT&T through AT&T Teleholdings, and, though separate, is now marketed as “AT&T”. The ...
, including area vice president of Bay Area marketing and general manager of South Bay customer services.
McAdam is past chairman of the board of directors of
CTIA – The Wireless Association
CTIA is a trade association representing the wireless communications industry in the United States. The association was established in 1984 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit membership organization, and repre ...
, a trade association. He is a director of the
National Academy Foundation
NAF (formerly known as National Academy Foundation) is an industry-sponsored nonprofit with a national network of public-private partnerships that support career academies within traditional high schools. Each academy focuses on a theme that addre ...
, a partnership between business leaders and educators that aims to help high schools across the US establish and run technical and service academies. He is also co-chair of the
CEO Council on Health and Innovation
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
, which encourages affordable improvements in employee health. He is an emeritus member of the
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
Board of trustees.
External links
Official Verizon bio
References
Cornell University College of Engineering alumni
University of San Diego alumni
Living people
Verizon Communications people
1954 births
American technology chief executives
American chairpersons of corporations
20th-century American businesspeople
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