Biography of Patricia Russo

Prior to the merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies, Patricia Russo was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucent. As one of the founding executives of the company, she helped launch Lucent in 1996 and spent more than 20 years of her career managing some of Lucent's and AT&T's largest divisions and most critical corporate functions.

As Lucent's CEO since January 2002, Patricia Russo led the company through one of the most challenging periods in the telecom industry's history and helped return the company to profitability. Under her leadership, Lucent implemented a new operating model, developed a more customer- and marketing-driven culture, won new business in emerging markets, expanded the role and reach of Bell Labs, and successfully completed its merger with Alcatel to create the world’s first truly global communications solutions provider.

In addition to serving on Alcatel-Lucent's board of directors, Patricia Russo sits on the board of the Schering-Plough Corporation, where she chairs the governance committee.

Patricia Russo received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University in 1989. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, as well as an Honorary Doctorate in Entrepreneurial Studies from Columbia College in South Carolina.

Before joining AT&T in 1981, Patricia Russo spent eight years in sales and marketing at IBM. Patricia also served as president and chief operating officer at Eastman Kodak Company before returning to Lucent as CEO.