{"77811":{"#nid":"77811","#data":{"type":"news","title":"BellSouth CEO to Address Georgia Tech Fall Commencement","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EF. Duane Ackerman, chairman and chief executive of BellSouth Corporation, will address the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s 214th commencement ceremony on Saturday, December 14, at 9 a.m., in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. A native of Plant City, Florida, Ackerman holds a bachelor\u0027s degree in physics and a master\u0027s degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. He holds a master\u0027s degree in business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAckerman began his communications career in 1964 and has served in numerous capacities with BellSouth. He was named president and chief executive officer of BellSouth Telecommunications, BellSouth\u0027s local telephone service unit and largest subsidiary, in November 1992. On January 1, 1995, he was promoted to vice chairman and chief operating officer of the parent company, BellSouth Corporation.  Ackerman was elevated to the position of president and chief executive officer of BellSouth on  January 1, 1997. A year later, he was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of the company.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAckerman also is a member of the boards of Wachovia Corporation and 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. He is the chairman of the National Council on Competitiveness, vice chairman of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, a trustee of Rollins College, and a former member of the board of governors for the Society of Sloan Fellows of MIT.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBellSouth is a Fortune 100 company serving nearly 44 million customers in the United States and 14 other countries. BellSouth\u0027s operating telephone company serves local residential and business customers in nine southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. In the residential market, the company offers DSL high-speed Internet access, advanced voice features and other services.  BellSouth also provides a full array of broadband data and e-commerce solutions to business customers, including Web hosting and other Internet services.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EF. Duane Ackerman, chairman and chief executive of BellSouth Corporation, will address the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s 214th commencement ceremony on Saturday, December 14, at 9 a.m., in Alexander Memorial Coliseum.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2002-12-19 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:10","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2002-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2002-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}