President Obama announced his intent to appoint several administration positions to the White House Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity earlier this month, including College of the Holy Cross alumna Mary Agnes “Maggie” Wilderotter, a member of the Class of 1977.
Composed of 12 members appointed by the President, the Commission was established within the Department of Commerce in February. According to the White House release, members are tasked with the mission to make detailed recommendations to strengthen cybersecurity in both the public and private sectors while protecting privacy, ensuring public safety and economic and national security, fostering discovery and development of new technical solutions, and bolstering partnerships between Federal, State, and local government and private sector in the development, promotion, and use of cybersecurity technologies, polices, and best practices.
Wilderotter served as Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Communications from 2004 to 2015, and then Executive Chairman until April 2016. During her tenure, the company grew from a regional telephone company to a national provider with revenues in excess of $10 billion. Previously, Wilderotter was Senior Vice President of Global Business Strategy and ran the Worldwide Public Sector at Microsoft. She was President and CEO of Wink Communications Inc.; Executive Vice President for AT&T Wireless Services; CEO of AT&T’s Aviation Communications Division; and a SVP of McCaw Cellular Communications. Wilderotter also served on the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee as Vice Chairman and Chairman. She holds a degree in economics from Holy Cross and an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree, honoris causa, from the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Wilderotter often returns to campus and has in the past been a keynote speaker for the Women in Business Conference, and has delivered the Thomas More Lecture on Faith, Work and Civic Life at Holy Cross. On Sunday, April 30, she will speak to the College community as part of “The Value and Relevancy of a Jesuit Education in the 21st Century Symposium,” which is being held in the Main Reading Room of Dinand Library from 3 – 4 p.m. Wilderotter and other alumni CEOs and leaders will be speaking on how their Jesuit education has shaped their lives and work and why such a foundation continues to be beneficial today. The symposium is part of a weekend-long event celebrating the launch of “Become More: Campaign for the Future of Holy Cross.”
More information:
- ‘President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts.’
- ‘Executive Order – Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.’
