Retired President & Chief Operating Officer, Verizon Communications
Former President & Chief Executive Officer, Verizon Wireless

Dennis F. Strigl was president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications until his retirement on December 31, 2009. Appointed Jan. 1, 2007, Strigl was responsible for the operations of Verizon’s network businesses — Verizon Wireless, Verizon Telecom and Verizon Business — as well as Verizon Services Operations, which provides financial, real estate and other functional services to all of the corporation’s operations.

Strigl was president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless and executive vice president of Verizon Communications prior to being promoted to president of the entire corporation.

Strigl is widely recognized as one of the most prominent architects of the wireless communications industry. He was responsible for bringing together the domestic wireless operations of Bell Atlantic, Vodafone AirTouch and GTE to form Verizon Wireless, now one of the top-performing companies in the industry. 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.

Strigl served in the communications industry for more than 40 years. He began his career in 1968 with New York Telephone and held positions at AT&T and Wisconsin Telephone before becoming vice president of American Bell Inc. In 1984, he became president of Ameritech Mobile Communications, where he was instrumental in launching the nation’s first cellular telephone network in Chicago. He won the Cellular Industry Achievement Award for engineering advancement and pioneering in marketing programs.

He joined Bell Atlantic in 1989, rising to the position of chief operating officer of New Jersey Bell before being named president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile in 1991. He subsequently was named president and CEO of the combined Bell Atlantic Mobile and NYNEX Mobile when those two companies merged in 1995.

Strigl is past chairman (1996-97) of the Board of Directors of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), the national industry association based in Washington, D.C. He serves on the boards of directors of Anadigics, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, PNC Financial Services Group and PNC Bank. Strigl also served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Canisius College.

Strigl is a licensed commercial pilot. He holds an undergraduate degree in business administration and doctorate of humane letters 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.  Since retiring from Verizon he has written a management book and spoken to numerous groups on management leadership.  He is a frequent guest on the FOX News Channel, FOX Business, CNBC and MSNBC.