Samuel Lou Ginn (born 3 April 1937), is an American businessman.

Early life

Samuel Lou Ginn was born on April 3, 1937, in

Anniston, Alabama Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...

. He is a 1959 graduate of

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

's College of Engineering, and was awarded the institution's honorary doctorate in 1998. He was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1992. Married to Ann Vance Ginn, they have three children and six grandchildren.

Career

Ginn has more than four decades of experience in the telecommunications industry. Following his service with the

Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army responsible for creating and managing communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860 by ...

, he built a 27-year career with

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

beginning as a student engineer in 1960. He rose through the ranks in management and operations, and in 1977 was appointed vice president of network operations for AT&T Long Lines. After the Bell Systems breakup, Ginn joined Pacific Telephone in 1978 as vice president in Los Angeles, going on to serve as chairman and CEO of Pacific Telesis from 1988 until 1994. When he resigned, Ginn launched AirTouch Communications, an early pioneer in the cellular industry that went public in 1994 with an IPO of $10 billion. In 1999, the company was sold for $65 billion to

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

where Ginn assumed the position of chairman in the United Kingdom. During his tenure, Vodafone merged with Verizon to create

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 ...

, the largest wireless telecommunications network in the U.S. Ginn retired from Vodafone in 2000. Ginn serves on the boards of

Franklin Templeton Franklin Resources, Inc. is an American multinational investment management holding company that, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as Franklin Templeton; it is a global investment firm founded in New York City in 1947 as Franklin ...

and

ICO Global Communications Pendrell Corporation (formerly NASDAQ:PCO, delisted Nov 2017) is an intellectual property (IP) investment, advisory services and asset management firm. The company develops and implements strategies to acquire, commercialize, manage, divest and li ...

. His past corporate board memberships have included

CH2M Hill CH2M, earlier CH2M Hill, was an engineering company that provided consulting, design, construction, and operations services for corporations and governments. The company was organized in Corvallis, Oregon, and headquartered at 9191 South Jamai ...

, First Interstate Bank, Pacific Telesis Group,

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

Transamerica Corporation Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. The ...

, AirTouch Communications,

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

and the

Fremont Group Fremont Group is a private investment group based in San Francisco, California, United States. It was formerly known as Bechtel Investments up until 1993, reflecting its ownership by the Bechtel family. In 1993, its name was officially changed to ...

. He has also served as chairman of the California Business-Higher Education Forum, the California Business Roundtable and the Committee on Jobs. He is an overseer at the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...

in Palo Alto, as well as a Sloan Fellow at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

's Graduate School of Business. In 2015, Ginn was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame for his dedication to the wireless industry.

Philanthropy

Ginn was appointed by Gov.

Bob Riley Robert Renfroe Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American retired politician and businessman who served as the 52nd governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the U.S. Hous ...

for an at large seat on the

Board of Trustees in 2005. His term expired on February 16, 2012. His $25 million gift to the Auburn University College of Engineering in 2001 helped fund a wireless engineering degree program and has helped vault Auburn into the nation's elite wireless research and teaching institutions. In recognition of the gift, the college was renamed the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Mr. Ginn continues his involvement with Auburn through its wireless advisory board. The Ginn Family Foundation was founded in 2005 to provide funding for institutions and organizations that provide continuing and long-term societal, educational, and cultural benefit to the community. Through its grant activities, the Foundation supports organizations that produce solutions for social problems, and that educate, and/or train young people to be self-supporting. In addition, the foundation provides support for civic and cultural organizations that enhance the quality of life in California and in other communities.

References

External links

Member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees
* 1937 births Living people People from Anniston, Alabama Auburn University alumni Vodafone people American chief executives American chairpersons of corporations Businesspeople from Alabama Philanthropists from Alabama 20th-century American businesspeople Delta Chi members {{US-business-bio-1930s-stub