Leadership Team

On June 1, 2010, Mary Dillon made history on two fronts by becoming the first female President and CEO at U.S. Cellular and in the entire wireless industry. With a leadership style that's admittedly "accessible, collaborative and results-oriented," Dillon is committed to differentiating the U.S. Cellular brand while meeting the needs of customers and exceeding their expectations. As the wireless company's top executive, she is poised to lead U.S. Cellular's "Dynamic Organization" to the next level through innovative, industry-changing solutions.

Dillon's career path has always had a focus on business growth and customer satisfaction. She most recently served as global chief marketing officer and executive vice president for McDonald's Corporation. There, she developed award-winning initiatives that strengthened and enhanced the brand throughout 118 countries. Prior to joining McDonald's, Dillon was President of the Quaker Foods division of PepsiCo Corporation.

Mary has earned many accolades and continues to serve her community through volunteerism. She was named one of Wall Street Journal's "Top 50 Women to Watch" in 2006. The following year, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Target Corporation and also serves on the board of Northshore University Health System.

A Chicago native, Mary earned a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Asian Studies at the University of Illinois. A fitness enthusiast, Dillon enjoys exercising and has completed a marathon and two triathlons. She resides in the Chicago suburbs with her husband Terry and their four children.

Steve Campbell was promoted to executive vice president, finance, chief financial officer and treasurer in 2006 and is responsible for overseeing U.S. Cellular's financial interests, including reporting to shareholders and investors.

Campbell manages and oversees an annual budget of more than $3 billion and serves the executive leadership team that continuously focuses on maximizing customer satisfaction. His team handles the treasury, accounting, reporting, financial planning and analysis functions for the company. The team also is responsible for strategic planning, intercarrier business and legal and regulatory matters.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular as vice president and controller in 2005, Campbell held financial leadership positions at 3Com Corporation (1997 to 2005), U.S. Robotics Corporation (1995 to 1997) and Amoco Corporation (1980 to 1985). Campbell is a certified public accountant, and has an MBA degree from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S. in accounting from Quincy University. He and his family reside in Long Grove, Ill.

As U.S. Cellular's executive vice president of operations, Alan Ferber is responsible for continually improving the customer experience. The company has built its reputation by focusing relentlessly on the quality of the customer experience and superior operations are a critical part of this process. Ferber's role is to generate sustainable, profitable growth by continuing to build, maintain and extend the company's operational capabilities. He leads the sales, customer service and marketing functions, and is responsible for offering customers products and services that will enhance their lives, upholding the internal culture and the standards of excellence that support it, and ensuring that the company's 9,000 associates have the support systems necessary to deliver a superior experience.

Ferber brings 17 years of wireless industry experience, including nine at U.S. Cellular, where he served most recently as vice president of sales operations and chief marketing officer. In this role, he shaped the advertising, merchandising, marketing, and brand strategies that transformed U.S. Cellular into an industry leader in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Those efforts culminated in the launch of U.S. Cellular's new brand, encouraging wireless consumers to Believe in Something Better.

During Ferber's tenure, U.S. Cellular has tripled the size of its customer base while earning one of the highest customer loyalty rates in the industry. He led the company's successful brand launches in such important new markets as Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and Portland, Maine, and he spearheaded the innovative naming rights agreement for U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox.

Ferber earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA in marketing and finance from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He lives in Deerfield, Ill., with his wife and three children.

Mike Irizarry, who joined U.S. Cellular in February 2002, oversees the company's information systems and technology as well as all of the company's technological operations including wireless towers, network build-outs for new markets, network operations and technological advancements.

Irizarry and his team are responsible for U.S. Cellular's ongoing expansion of advanced CDMA-based technologies and 3G Mobile Broadband, which enables the company to offer a variety of service enhancements to customers and to ensure exceptional call quality and clarity for U.S. Cellular's customers. U.S. Cellular's commitment to continuous network improvement is an important factor in the company's award-winning customer service.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Irizarry held executive positions with Verizon, Bell Atlantic Mobile, Paging Network, Inc., and Motorola. A senior member of the I.E.E.E. and its communications and computer societies, Irizarry earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Cleveland Technical College, a master of science in information management, an MBA from the International School of Information Management, and a doctorate in Communications Technology from Capella University's School of Business and Technology. He is also a graduate of University of Chicago's executive management program. Irizarry lives in Barrington, Ill., with his wife and their four children.

Jeff Childs, Executive vice president and chief human resources officer, is responsible for hiring great leaders and associates, developing their skills, providing them with the proper tools and removing unnecessary distractions so that they can deliver the ideal customer experience to U.S. Cellular customers.

With more than 30 years of diverse experience in sales, marketing, operations and human resources, Childs joined U.S. Cellular in January 2004 and oversees all human resource related activities including hiring and organizational development within the corporation. Adhering to the overall U.S. Cellular philosophy that strong leadership drives associate satisfaction - which in turn leads to strong customer satisfaction - Childs develops and implements specific initiatives that provide enhanced hiring, training and development for all associates.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Childs was a senior partner with Brimstone Consulting Group, LLC where he was responsible for providing leadership and organizational change management, and business consulting services to senior-level executives. Previously, Childs served as a key leader in the transformation of human resources at Ameritech/SBC.

He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Ball State University, where he studied business management and economics. Childs is also a graduate of the University of Michigan's Global Leadership Program. He serves on the human resources and pension committees of the Chicago Metropolitan YMCA, is incoming chairman of Human Resources Management Association of Chicago (HRMAC), and is a board member of the Junior Achievement of Chicago. Childs resides in Barrington, Ill., with his wife and their son

As vice president of Midwest operations, Rochelle (Shelley) Boersma leads the engineering, finance, operations and sales departments that serve U.S. Cellular customers in Illinois and Indiana. In this role, she provides direction and support to 1,500 associates to ensure customer satisfaction.

Boersma has served in many leadership roles since joining the company in 2002. As vice president of customer service, she was dedicated to maintaining customer privacy and testified before Congress on our policies to protect private customer data. She was committed to driving consistency and collaboration between multiple customer service centers, role clarity for leaders and effective communications, and she implemented a virtual-call-routing system. Having also served as vice president of sales operations, Boersma has extensive knowledge of the company's direct and indirect distribution channels, as well as day-to-day sales operations.

Boersma has worked in the telecommunications industry for 24 years and held many leadership roles. She earned a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University and is on the board of the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. Boersma resides in Chicago.

Tom Catani, vice president of eastern operations, provides direction and support to more than 1,200 associates in markets spanning Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. With more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Catani supports U.S. Cellular's customer satisfaction strategy by regularly communicating with customers and associates to ensure that the company is providing the very best in products and services.

Catani, who joined U.S. Cellular in 1997, most recently served as senior director of sales and marketing for U.S. Cellular's East Region. In that position, he led the successful formation of the company's first state-of-the-art Customer Care Center in Knoxville, Tenn. The company now has five such care centers. Prior to this position, Catani spent 15 years with Lucent Technologies in such positions as area general manager, sales trainer and sales manager.

Catani holds an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois in Champaign. He serves on the board of directors for United Way of Greater Knoxville, the Knoxville Area Urban League, Leadership Knoxville and the Knoxville Opera Company. He resides in Knoxville, Tenn., with his wife, three daughters and two sons.

As vice president of customer service for U.S. Cellular, R. Lynn Costlow is responsible for delivering the company's award-winning customer satisfaction strategy. She oversees customer interactions in our retail, telesales and care center environments. And she leads more than 2,100 associates at the company's five customer care centers, which handle more than 1.2 million calls every month.

Costlow joined the company in 2005 as senior director of sales operations. In this position, she was responsible for retail, indirect, business-to-business and alternative sales-channel operations on a national scale. Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Costlow spent eight years in management consulting leading large, cross-functional teams and specializing in program management, system conversion and implementation initiatives. For three of those eight years, she provided leadership and program delivery for U.S. Cellular projects.

Costlow earned a Master of Arts from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in psychology and sociology from Southwestern University in Texas. While Costlow loves living in Chicago with her son Evan, she is a native Texan and visits her beloved Lone Star State as often as possible.

John Cregier’s team of 450 associates makes sure that every aspect of the company’s information systems delivers an ideal experience to our wireless customers. Cregier oversees all areas of information technology, including application development, infrastructure, enterprise architecture and delivery.

While Cregier’s team doesn’t work directly with customers, their technology provides the foundation for frontline associates to help customers who visit our stores or contact our customer care centers. Access to information about products and services, and the systems to handle customer questions quickly and easily, allow frontline associates to focus on taking care of their customers.

Their emphasis on the customer experience is driven by values and behaviors that are part of the company’s culture. Associates treat each other with respect, communicate openly, know they can get help when they need it and have confidence in their leaders.

Cregier joined the company 22 years ago and has held leadership positions in operations, marketing, and information services. As the senior director of product development and management for the marketing team he was responsible for the initial launch of the company’s wireless data services.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Cregier held IT roles with Ameritech Mobile Communications and Automatic Data Processing. He earned his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Illinois State University and received an MBA from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, with concentrations in Marketing, Management & Strategy, and Organizational Behavior. Cregier resides in Bartlett, Ill., with his family.

As vice president, public affairs and communications, Karen Ehlers is responsible for U.S. Cellular's media relations, public affairs, government relations and charitable-giving initiatives. Ehlers, who joined U.S. Cellular in April 2002, builds and maintains strategic relationships with key government officials, community and business leaders, members of the news media as well as charitable organizations in each of the company's new and existing markets. She has overseen a five-fold increase in the company's philanthropic giving, which now exceeds $2 million annually.

Ehlers's team promotes U.S. Cellular's commitment to customer satisfaction while ensuring the company serves as a responsible corporate citizen in the communities where it does business.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Ehlers was a vice president with Cushman/Amberg Communications where she managed several major accounts, including the public affairs initiatives supporting U.S. Cellular's entrance into the Chicago market. She serves on the board of directors of Uhlich Children's Advantage Network, as well as the Chicago chapter of Human Rights Watch. Ehlers earned her bachelor's degree in broadcasting from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. She resides in Darien, IL with her husband and two children.

As vice president of legal and regulatory affairs for U.S. Cellular, John Gockley provides counsel to the company's leadership team regarding legal issues, including transactional, regulatory, telecommunications, environmental, employment and financial. With 26 years of diverse telecommunications experience, Gockley also leads the company's regulatory efforts at both the federal and state levels.

Before joining U.S. Cellular in 2007, Gockley served as vice president and associate general counsel of regulatory and interconnection at Broadwing Communications. During his career he has served as counsel for various companies including Allegiance Telecom, Ameritech Corporation and Illinois Bell Telephone Company.

Gockley holds a bachelor of arts degree in history from Fordham University, a J.D. from John Marshall Law School and a master's of law degree in taxation from DePaul University. He currently resides in Lisle, Ill., with his family.

As vice president of organizational learning and chief teaching officer for U.S. Cellular, Tom Griffin is responsible for the design and execution of the company-wide learning and organization development strategy. In this role, he ensures that associates and leaders at all levels are provided with the training, education and developmental experiences needed to deliver the ideal customer experience and build a culture of sustainable excellence.

Prior to being named vice president, Griffin served as senior director, leadership and organization development, assuming responsibility for cultivating an effective leadership team, succession and performance management, and culture development. Before joining U.S. Cellular in 2000, Griffin held a variety of positions focused on leadership and organizational development with SBC/Ameritech, Texas Instruments, and the U.S. Army. He has extensive experience in the leadership and organization development field, change management, and adult learning methodology.

Griffin holds a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Fitchburg State College; master's degrees in general business and management of engineering technology from Amber University; a master's degree in organization development & change management from the University of Texas at Dallas; and a doctorate in organization development from Benedictine University. He is a published author, frequent conference speaker, and a U.S. Cellular President's Award winner. He and his wife reside in Algonquin, Ill.

As vice president of financial planning and analysis, Jeff is responsible for providing financial leadership to the organization in support of its customer centric strategy. His team is responsible for, among other things, strategic and corporate development, intercarrier services, budgeting and forecasting, financial analytics and support, and data governance.

Hoersch has been in the wireless industry for more than 17 years, 13 of those with U.S. Cellular. During his tenure with U.S. Cellular he has held a variety of positions including director of finance and accounting - Central Region, director of the finance roadmap program and most recently director of business planning and analysis - Central Region. Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Hoersch held a variety of finance positions with BellSouth Wireless.

A certified public accountant, Hoersch earned a bachelor of science degree in finance from Marquette University and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He lives in Elgin, Ill., with his wife and three children.

As vice president of central operations, Kathy Hust is responsible for managing sales, finance, operations and engineering for U.S. Cellular's customers in Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. Having served in her current role since 2002, Hust continues to increase the number of new U.S. Cellular customers and satisfy existing customers in the Central Region by committing her regional sales associates to providing the very best in customer satisfaction at each step of the sales process. She provides direction and support to approximately 1,300 U.S. Cellular associates in the company's Central Region.

The first woman to hold a regional vice president role at U.S. Cellular, Hust joined the company in 1997 as district sales manager, and has since held numerous management positions including regional sales manager, area sales manager, area retail manager and director of sales for California and southern Oregon.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, she held management positions with Cellular One/Bell South Cellular. Hust earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee and has a certificate in management from Marquette University. She serves on the President's Council Board of the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, the board of directors of the Zoological Society of Milwaukee and the board of trustees of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. Hust, a Milwaukee native, resides in the area with her family.

Kevin Lowell, vice president, national network operations for U.S. Cellular, joined the company in 2003. Promoted to his current position in December 2005, Lowell's responsibilities include ensuring the superior quality of U.S. Cellular's voice and data network; leading the development, implementation and audits of current and new wireless network designs and ensuring standards are met. Lowell also leads engineering teams at all of U.S. Cellular's network operations centers.

In his seven years with U.S. Cellular, Lowell has served as senior director of engineering and network operations for the company's Central and West regions. In those positions, Kevin led engineering teams to ensure that U.S. Cellular's quality wireless network was operating to industry standards in each U.S. Cellular service area.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Lowell held various leadership positions for Sprint PCS, including director of network field operations. Lowell holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature from UCLA. He lives in Streamwood, Ill., with his wife and two children.

As vice president of marketing and sales operations, Ed Perez directs U.S. Cellular's uniquely customer-focused branding and distribution strategy, a critical element in the company's successful drive to make "the ideal customer experience" its calling card. In this role, Perez leads more than 200 associates on four key teams: customer strategy and marketing, brand, product development and sales operations.

Perez's career with U.S. Cellular began 13 years ago in marketing. Since then, he has held positions of increasing responsibility, including senior director of sales and marketing for the company's West and Central regions, senior director of marketing's product group, and interim senior director of brand management when U.S. Cellular launched its new brand (Believe in Something Better). Most recently, he was senior director of business support/operations support in the company's new strategic operations program.

U.S. Cellular encourages its associates to contribute to their communities. Perez has set an example by volunteering his time to the Salvation Army, the United Way, numerous Hispanic organizations and the chambers of commerce in St. Louis and Tulsa.

Perez is a native of St. Louis and earned a B.S. in marketing from Missouri State University. He lives in Glen Ellyn, Ill., with his wife and three children.

As vice president and controller, Petrich leads the company’s accounting, financial reporting, treasury and certain regulatory and tax compliance functions. She ensures the financial integrity of U.S. Cellular’s business operations by developing and enhancing the accounting, control policies and procedures. Petrich oversees the company’s compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 and emerging standards for control and reporting.

Petrich brought forward-thinking and strategic improvements to U.S. Cellular’s financial operations that emphasize accuracy, clarity, and process and system enhancements.

Petrich has been a leader in her field for nearly two decades. Before joining U.S. Cellular in 2009, she held various finance and controlling related positions, including vice president and controller of the office product group for Chicago-based ACCO Brands, Inc., director of corporate accounting for Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., vice president – finance and controller for Chef Solutions, Inc., and she held various financial positions at Robert Bosch Corporation North America. Petrich began her finance career at Arthur Andersen LLP.

Petrich earned her bachelor of science in accounting degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a certified public accountant. She has two children and enjoys summers in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

As U.S. Cellular's vice president financial and real estate services, Tom Weber is responsible for the company's revenue assurance, payment control, associate and agent commissions, payroll, accounts payable, process improvement and real estate services. Weber joined the company in 1992.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Weber held various finance and accounting positions with Chrysler Corporation. Weber, a certified public accountant, earned a bachelor of science degree from DePaul University and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Weber serves on the DePaul University College of Commerce Dean’s Advisory Council. He and his wife reside in Itasca, Ill., with their two children.

As vice president of U.S. Cellular's west operations, Nick Wright oversees sales, operations and engineering for U.S. Cellular's customers in California, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington. Wright was appointed to this role in 2004 after serving as interim vice president. Wright's focus is on increasing the number of new U.S. Cellular customers while retaining existing customers in the West Region by providing the very best in customer satisfaction. In addition, Wright provides direction and support to more than 1,100 associates in the West Region.

Before being named regional vice president, Wright served as senior director of sales and marketing for the West region. He joined U.S. Cellular in 1993 and has served in a variety of leadership roles during his career, working in three of the company's four U.S. regions.

Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Wright served in management positions for Household Finance Corporation. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and criminal justice from Central Missouri State University. Wright, his wife and two sons reside in Bixby, Okla.