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Dennis F. Strigl is president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, and executive vice president of Verizon Communications. He is also widely recognized as one of the most prominent architects of the wireless communications industry. His experience provides a unique vantage point: from launching the nation’s first cellular telephone network and managing several of the largest cellular mergers in the industry, to today leading one of the world’s preeminent wireless companies.
Strigl was the lead executive in charge of integrating Verizon Wireless when that company was formed in April 2000, by combining the domestic wireless operations of Bell Atlantic, Vodafone AirTouch and GTE. 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.
As head of Verizon Wireless, Strigl has established an entrepreneurial culture to minimize corporate bureaucracy, focus on making wireless communications easy for consumers and fuel the company's rapid growth. He also initiated the company's "HopeLine sm community service program, a philanthropic effort that focuses on putting wireless services to work to combat domestic violence and enhance the quality of life in local communities.
Strigl has served in the telecommunications industry for more than 30 years. He began his telecommunications career in 1968 with New York Telephone Company, and subsequently held positions at AT&T and Wisconsin Telephone Company before becoming vice president of American Bell, Inc. 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. Strigl later served as president and chief executive officer for Applied Data Research Inc.
He joined Bell Atlantic in 1989, serving as vice president-product management for Network Services and later as vice president-operations and chief operating officer and a member of New Jersey Bell's board of directors. He was named president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile in 1991, and oversaw its merger with Metro Mobile CTS. 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, the national industry association based in Washington, D.C. He also serves on the boards of directors of Anadigics, Inc., PNC Financial Services Group and PNC Bank.
Strigl holds a degree in business administration from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, NJ, which named him to its Pinnacle Society for distinguished alumni. | 