Ralph de la Vega
| Ralph de la Vega | |
|---|---|
Ralph de la Vega
|
|
| Born | Cuba |
| Education | MBA |
| Alma mater |
Miami Dade College Florida Atlantic University Northern Illinois University University of Virginia |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Years active | 1974 to present |
| Notable work | Obstacles Welcome: How to Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life |
| Title | Former Vice Chairman of AT&T Inc. and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions and AT&T International |
| Board member of |
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Georgia Aquarium National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America Morehouse College |
| Awards |
Emory University’s Global Innovation Award Honorary Doctorate from Florida Atlantic University |
Ralph de la Vega is the former Vice Chairman of AT&T Inc. and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions and AT&T International. He has previously served as President & CEO of AT&T Mobile & Business Solutions; President and CEO of AT&T Mobility; COO of Cingular Wireless; President of BellSouth Latin America Operations; and the President of Broadband and Internet Services for BellSouth. He is also the author of the 2009 book Obstacles Welcome: How to Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life. Ralph de la Vega retired December 31, 2016, after a 42-year career with the AT&T.
Ralph de la Vega was born in Cuba, and emigrated to the United States in 1962, at the age of ten. In an effort to flee the Castro dictatorship in that country, his family attempted to board a plane to Miami; however the border official stated that only Ralph’s papers were in order. He was sent to the US alone, where he stayed with the friend of an aunt. It took four years for his parents to join him. Once his parents arrived, de la Vega took an after-school job sweeping the floors of a garment factory to help support the family. He was then promoted, and started making money selling the clothing made by the company.
De la Vega eventually enrolled in a pre-engineering curriculum at Miami Dade College, and worked part-time as a draftsman at an engineering firm. He then received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Florida Atlantic University. He later received an MBA from Northern Illinois University. He also completed the Executive Program at the University of Virginia and received an honorary doctorate from Florida Atlantic.
De la Vega started his career in 1974 with BellSouth (then Southern Bell) as a management assistant. Over the years he held positions in Network Planning, Consumer Services, Engineering, and DSL and Operations. In 1985 he became a director at the Bell's Communications Research Technical Education Center (Bellcore TEC). He was later made responsible for all BellSouth Telecommunications Network Operations in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Afterwards he became the president of BellSouth Broadband Internet Services. De la Vega eventually became the president of BellSouth Latin America, a role he held from 2002 to 2003. In this job he was in charge of the wireless subsidiaries in eleven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The CEOs of each company reported to de la Vega, who restructured the decision-making infrastructure of the group in order to create cooperative strategies and policies between the different firms. At the end of his first year as president, BellSouth Latin America turned a profit for the first time.
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