Pat Russo is a technology-industry veteran who has spent her career helping to lead numerous telecommunications and technology stalwarts, including Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, IBM and AT&T, among others. She is Chairman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a $52 billion global industry leader in providing information management solutions to businesses around the world. She has been recognized multiple times for her business achievements as one of Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women” and as one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People”.
Pat was the Chairman and CEO of Lucent Technologies, during which time she led the company through one of the most challenging periods in the telecommunications sector’s history. She led the company’s return to profitability and growth after the telecom industry downturn, and later led the company through its strategic merger with Alcatel. Pat served as CEO of the combined company (Alcatel-Lucent) through the end of 2008. Her leadership skills and corporate experience, as well as her experience with turnarounds, corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and sales and marketing, bring extensive expertise to the oversight and development of the companies on whose boards she serves.
Pat serves on the boards of several industry leading companies, including General Motors, Alcoa, Merck, and KKR. She chairs the Governance Committee of the Board of General Motors, where she has served as a director since 2009 when the company emerged from bankruptcy. She is also the lead Independent Director and Chair of the Governance committee at Alcoa, sits on the Compensation and Governance committees at Merck, and is a director of the KKR Management Company, LLC.
Additionally, Pat is Chairman emeritus of the Board of the Partnership for DrugFree Kids, a national non-profit dedicated to preventing drug and alcohol abuse among youth.
Pat is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. She received honorary doctorate degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology and Columbia College. She is a member of the U.S. Business Council, the New York Economic Club, and a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development.
