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President Names Ackerman, Russo as Chair, Vice Chair of NSTAC

Arlington, Va., May 19, 2004 - President Bush announced on May 17, 2004, that he intends to designate F. Duane Ackerman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BellSouth Corporation to serve as Chair of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC). Mr. Ackerman, currently the NSTAC Vice Chair, will replace Dr. Vance D. Coffman, Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin.

The President also announced that he intends to designate Ms. Patricia F. Russo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lucent Technologies, to serve as NSTAC Vice Chair replacing Mr. Ackerman.

The President's NSTAC is composed of up to 30 presidentially appointed industry leaders (usually chief executive officers). In its advisory role to the President, the NSTAC provides industry-based analyses and recommendations on a wide range of policy and technical issues related to telecommunications, information assurance (IA), infrastructure protection, and other national security and emergency preparedness concerns.
A native of Plant City, Fla., Mr. Ackerman holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and master’s degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., and a master’s degree in business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Ackerman began his communications career in 1964, and has served in numerous capacities with BellSouth. Mr. Ackerman was named president, chief executive officer of BellSouth Telecommunications, BellSouth’s local telephone service unit and largest subsidiary, in November 1992. He was promoted to vice chairman and chief operating officer of the parent company, BellSouth Corporation, on January 1, 1995, and was elevated to the position of president and chief executive officer of BellSouth on January 1, 1997. On January 1, 1998, Mr. Ackerman was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of BellSouth.

In addition to serving as a director of BellSouth Corporation, Mr. Ackerman is also a member of the board of The Allstate Corporation. His civic commitments include immediate past chair of the Georgia Research Alliance and membership on the board of the Woodruff Arts Center. Mr. Ackerman is the chairman of the national Council on Competitiveness, a trustee of Rollins College and a former member of the board of governors for the Society of Sloan Fellows of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

One of the executives who helped launch Lucent in 1996, Ms. Russo has spent 20 years of her career managing some of Lucent's and AT&T's largest divisions and most critical corporate functions. Ms. Russo was named chairman of Lucent in February 2003.

She is a member of the board of Lucent Technologies, Schering-Plough Corporation and Georgetown University. Ms. Russo also is a member of the Network Reliability Interoperability Council, and in April 2003 was appointed by Governor James McGreevey the New Jersey Commission on Jobs Growth and Economic Development.

She graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University in 1989 and received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She also received an honorary doctorate in entrepreneurial studies from Columbia College in South Carolina, as well as an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology.

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