Wayne M. Perry (born January 3, 1950) is a retired American businessman and former national president of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

(2012–2014).

Business

After graduating from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

, Perry earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College and an L.L.M. in Taxation from

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

. He is a member of the Washington State Bar Association. Perry started at McCaw Cellular Communications Inc. in 1976. He served as legal officer, General Counsel, and Executive Vice President before becoming President in 1985. After McCaw's merger with

AT&T Wireless AT&T Mobility, LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. Formed in April 2000 as Cingular Wireless LLC, It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. and provides wireless serv ...

Services in September 1994, Perry served as AT&T's Vice-Chairman. He joined NEXTLINK Communications as chief executive officer and vice-chairman before co-founding Edge Wireless in 1999. Already partly owned by AT&T, it was acquired in its entirety by AT&T in 2008. In 2012, Perry was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame for his role in the wireless industry. Perry is a minority owner of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

baseball team. He has taught at the University of Washington Business School as a visiting professor for classes on mergers and acquisitions.

Scouting

Perry joined the

as a

Cub Scout Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with some Scout organizations, for young children, usually between 8 and 12, who are too young to be Scouts and make the Scout Promise. A participant in the program is called a Cub and a group of Cubs ...

. He has served as Scoutmaster, district chairman, Explorer advisor, Cubmaster, and president of the

Chief Seattle Council Chief Seattle Council (originally called Seattle Area Council) is the local council governing the scouting activities of the Boy Scouts of America in a large part of the Puget Sound and Seattle area, including almost all of the Olympic Peninsula ...

as well as of the Western Region. Perry has been awarded the

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of Scouting America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting program. The ...

Silver Antelope Award The Silver Antelope Award is a distinguished service award presented by Scouting America for outstanding service to young people within one of the organization’s divisions. Since 2022 award has been presented for service to a Council Service T ...

Silver Beaver Award The Silver Beaver Award is the council-level distinguished service award of Scouting America. Recipients of the award are registered adult leaders who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council. Those deemed ...

and District Award of Merit. He is a member of the

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of Scouting America, composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Promise, Scout Oath and Scout Law, Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. It was founded as a camp fr ...

and earned the

Wood Badge Wood Badge is a Scout leader training program, first implemented by The Scout Association, The Boy Scouts Association in the United Kingdom in 1919 and subsequently adopted, with variations, by some other Scout organizations. Wood Badge Course ...

advanced training recognition. He is a Troop Guide on Wood Badge course W1-609-15-2 in the Chief Seattle Council. In addition, Perry was awarded the BSA Heroism Award. He is also a holder of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...

Bronze Wolf Award The Bronze Wolf Award is an award presented by the World Organization of the Scout Movement for outstanding service by an individual to the Scout Movement. Just over 400 people have received the Bronze Wolf since its creation in 1935. WOSM has r ...

. He was appointed to the National Executive Board, and became the International Commissioner of the BSA in May 2006. Perry served as a member of the World Committee until July 2008, having been selected to replace

Steve Fossett James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraf ...

in September 2006. He was elected the National President of the BSA by the National Executive Board in May 2012. He served as National President of the BSA until May 2014, at which time he was succeeded by

Robert Gates Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and retained b ...

Personal

Perry is married to Christine and has four sons, Kevin, Gregory, Douglas, and Justin. He is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

References

External links

Wayne Perry, new member of the World Scout Committee

Wayne Perry: The Future of Wireless Communications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Wayne M. University of Washington alumni New York University School of Law alumni American telecommunications industry businesspeople World Scout Committee members Living people American Latter Day Saints Lewis & Clark Law School alumni National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America members Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award 1950 births People from Medina, Washington Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America