Catherine M Coughlin

The former executive started her 35-year career in business, marketing and mobile technology at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, which later merged with several other Bell companies to become SBC Communications Inc. The company then bought AT&T and adopted its name. A graduate of Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis, Coughlin began her 35-year career with the company after earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University in 1979. She later earned a master’s degree in finance from Saint Louis University. She was promoted to the top marketing position at AT&T shortly before the company partnered with Apple, Inc. and became the only provider of the iPhone in 2007. Coughlin served as senior executive vice president and global marketing officer for eight years before stepping down in April, when she was appointed to a position consulting for AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Coughlin also served on the boards of the American Film Institute, Northwestern University and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.