Lowell Clayton McAdam (born May 28, 1954) is an American businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO of

Verizon Communications Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

, a company he joined in 2000.

Early life

McAdam earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

and a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

. 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 A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

Career

In 2006, McAdam became the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

(COO) and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(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 div ...

. On September 20, 2010, parent company

announced he would be president and COO beginning October 1, 2010, succeeding Ivan Seidenberg. 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 A bell Help:IPA/English, /ˈbɛl/ () is a struck idiophone, directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficien ...

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, Inc. was an American Mobile phone, wireless telephone service provider, created as a Corporate spin-off, spin-off of Pacific Telesis on April 1, 1994. Its headquarters were located in the One California building in the F ...

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 (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 company has ...

, 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, 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, which encourages affordable improvements in employee health. He is an emeritus member of the

Board of trustees.

External links

Official Verizon bio

References

Cornell University College of Engineering alumni University of San Diego alumni Living people Verizon people 1954 births American technology chief executives American chairpersons of corporations 20th-century American businesspeople American telecommunications industry businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1950s-stub