Company Profile

Kent B. Foster Chairman And Chief Executive Officer, Ingram Micro Inc.

Kent B. Foster is chairman of the board of Ingram Micro. He was named chief executive officer and president, Ingram Micro Inc. in March 2000. Foster joined Ingram Micro after a 29-year career at GTE Corporation, a leading telecommunications company with one of the industry's broadest arrays of products and services.

From 1995 through 1999, Foster served as president, GTE Corporation with responsibility for GTEs national businesses as well as corporate-wide responsibility for quality, marketing and technology, including GTE Laboratories. With 1999 revenues of more than $25 billion, GTE provides local service in 28 states and wireless service in 18 states, as well as nationwide long-distance, directory, and internetworking services ranging from dial-up Internet access for residential and small-business consumers to Web-based applications for Fortune 500 companies. Outside the United States, the company serves customers on five continents.

Foster joined General Telephone Company of the Southeast in 1970 as a supervising engineer. Quickly demonstrating his leadership skills, he was named to his first executive position in 1976 as vice president, operations. Foster continued his extensive career at GTE with executive positions in network engineering and construction, corporate planning and development, and marketing and business planning.

In 1983, Foster became president of GTE Northwest, and from 1985 to 1989, he served as group vice president GTE Telephone Operations. In 1989, he was named president of GTE Telephone Operations and oversaw the massive consolidation of 14 autonomous operating companies into a single, national business unit.

Foster was a member of GTEs board of directors since 1992 and served as vice chairman of the board since 1993. In addition, he currently serves on the boards of directors of Campbell Soup Company, Inc.; J.C. Penney Company, Inc.; New York Life Insurance Company, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Opera.

Prior to his career with GTE, Foster served in the U.S. Air Force from 1966 to 1970, achieving the rank of captain. Foster received a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University and a masters degree in management from the University of Southern California.