Ivan G. Seidenberg

Country:	USA

Ivan G. Seidenberg has been the Chairman of Verizon Communications, Inc. since 2004. He is also the Chairman of the Busniess Roundtable, an organization comprised of CEOs from top companies in the United States. He also serves as one of the Presidential Advisers under the Presidential Export Council for President Barack Obama's administration. He received this appointment from the President on June of 2010, with the aim to promote U.S. exports, jobs, and growth.

Career History

Seidenberg was first employed in 1966 as a Cable Splice Assistant at New York Telephone, one of AT&T's baby bells. His employment with the company was interrupted when he was drafted into the United States Army for two years during the Vietnam War. After being wounded during a battle in Khe Sanh, Vietnam, Ivan returned home a decorated veteran. Following his military service, he returned to his job at New York Telephone, and assumed various engineering positions within the company. In 1981, Seidenberg became Assistant Vice-President of Marketing, and in 1983, he assumed the position of Vice-President of Federal Relations.

After the AT&T Divestiture, the company NYNEX was formed out of the merger of New York Telephone and New England Telephone & Telegraph Company. Seidenberg joined NYNEX as Vice-President of External Affairs. In 1995, he became Chairman and CEO of the company. In 1997, NYNEX merged with Bell Atlantic. In 2000, Ivan was instrumental in the Bell Atlantic and GTE merger, which resulted in the formation of Verizon Telecommunications. Seidenberg became co-CEO and President of the company with Charles R. Lee until 2002. He became the sole CEO and Chairman of Verizon in 2004. In August 2011, Seidenberg turned over the CEO position to Lowell C. McAdam but remained Chairman of the company.

Education

Seidenberg attended evening classes at the City University of New York. He received his Bachelors Degree in Mathematics in 1972. He earned his Masters Degree in Business Administration at Pace University in 1980.

Personal Information

Seidenberg was born on December 10, 1946, in New York City, New York. His parents were Howard and Kitty Seidenberg. He is married to Phyllis A. Maisel and they two children.