Top AT&T Executive to Speak for WT’s Sigman Leadership and Innovation Series

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — The chief operating officer of AT&T will headline West Texas A&M University’s Stan Sigman Leadership and Innovation Series in an Oct. 27 event.

Jeff McElfresh is one of the top executives at the telecommunications giant, which serves more than 100 million mobile and broadband customers in the United States.

He will speak at 9:45 a.m. Oct. 27 in Legacy Hall inside the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on the Canyon campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

“We are delighted to host Jeff McElfresh as the featured speaker for the series this year,” said Dr. Amjad Abdullat, dean of the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business. “Jeff actively applies the core values and principles that underlie both Stan Sigman’s leadership style and the Stan Sigman Leadership and Innovation Series.  The role that AT&T plays in shaping the contemporary business and telecommunications environment cannot be overstated, making Jeff’s visit to the campus a brilliant opportunity for students and the broader WT community.”

The series, named for a late alumnus and supporter of WT, was made possible through gifts from Sigman’s former AT&T colleagues. The gifts also established the Stan Sigman Scholarship Endowment and the Stan Sigman Endowed Professorship in Business, held by Dr. Jeffry Babb.

McElfresh also will hold a private session with College of Business faculty and students and record an episode of the Sigman Leadership and Innovation podcast.

McElfresh has 27 years of experience with AT&T in a variety of strategic, operational and technology leadership roles. Most of his career has been in AT&T’s Mobility business — the biggest single driver of AT&T’s consolidated revenues. 

McElfresh most recently served as the chief executive officer of AT&T Communications, where he led nearly 200,000 employees, and prior to that, the president of its Technology and Operations group where he led a team of more than 90,000 employees and was responsible for the company’s network, technology, cybersecurity, data and labs operations. In that role, he led the team that won AT&T recognition for having the best, fastest and most reliable wireless network in the country.

He also previously served as: CEO of AT&T’s Vrio and its DIRECTV Latin America and SKY Brasil businesses from 2015 to 2018; senior vice president in AT&T’s Strategy and Corporate Development group; and president of AT&T Mexico and a member of the board of directors and executive committee of Telmex and América Móvil, overseeing AT&T’s since-divested minority interest in the two companies. Early in his career, he held several operational positions with AT&T’s (BellSouth International) wireless businesses in Latin America. 

McElfresh holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. 

The Sigman Leadership and Innovation Series spotlights WT’s commitment to providing a nurturing yet rigorous educational environment for its students, faculty, alumni and communities across the Panhandle, as laid out in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021 — has raised more than $110 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WT—