Rayford Wilkins Jr.

Biography

 Mr. Rayford Wilkins, Jr., also known as Ray, serves as Special Advisor at Pensare Acquisition Corp. Mr. Wilkins served as Chairman and President of AT&T International, Inc. He served as Group President of AT&T Diversified Businesses at YellowPages.com, LLC. He occupied various positions in wireless industry at SBC Group. He served as Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Diversified Businesses sy At&T Corp. He held several leadership roles in his more than 30-year career at&T and its predecessor companies. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Diversified Businesses for AT&T Inc. from October 2008 to March 30, 2012, where he was responsible for international investments, AT&T Interactive, AT&T Advertising Solutions, customer information services and the consumer wireless initiative in India. He served as the Group President of Diversified Businesses and Group President of Marketing and Sales of AT&T Inc. since June 2002, where he was responsible for all marketing and sales, including product development, sales support, business communications services and global and consumer markets, which then represented a $30 billion revenue stream. Mr. Wilkins served as Group President of SBC's Marketing and Sales at&T Mobility LLC. He served as Group President and Chief Executive Officer-SBC enterprise business services, with responsibility for serving AT&T's 12,000 largest business customers and overseeing sales, customer care, data solutions engineering, consulting and operations of its advanced data and Internet Protocol (IP) networks. He served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of SBC Pacific Bell Telephone Company and Nevada Bell Telephone Company from September 2000 to April 2002, where he was responsible for all business and consumer market sales, customer service, network services and external affairs in California and Nevada. He served as President of SBC Business Communications Services from October 1999 to September 7, 2000, where he was responsible for providing telecommunications and data solutions to over 3 million business customers nationwide. Mr. Wilkins served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. from July 1999 to October 1999, where he was responsible for providing communications products and services throughout the region. He served as Group President of International Operations of AT&T Inc. He served as President of Pacific Bell Business Communications Services, Pacific Bell Telephone Company, San Ramon, California from August 1997 to July 1999, where he was responsible for all business market sales, customer service, network integration and information services, as well as overall financial performance. Mr. Wilkins served as President, Vice President and General Manager of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. from August 1993 to August 1997. He began his career as a commercial assistant with Southwestern Bell Telephone in Houston in 1974. He served as Group President of Marketing & Sales at SBC Communications Inc - At&T Mobility LLC. He serves as the Chairman of Cingular Wireless Corporation. He served as Chairman of Sterling Commerce, Inc. He served as a Presiding Director and Director of H&R Block Inc. since 2000. He has been an Independent Director of Morgan Stanley since August 1, 2013. He has been a Director of Caterpillar Inc. since April 11, 2017 and Cingular Wireless Corporation since November 2002. He has been an Independent Director of Valero Energy Corporation since January 25, 2011. He serves as Director of Telmex SA and YP Holdings LLC. He served as Director of Telefonos de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. since 2005; Telmex Internacional, S.A.B. de C.V. since 2007; and América Móvil S.A.B. de C.V. since 2005. He serves as a Director of The Tiger Woods Foundation, the Advisory Council of the McCombs School of Business and the AT&T Foundation. In 2006, he was recognized as one of “The 100 Most Important Blacks in Technology“ by U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine and was named one of “The Top 100 Blacks in Corporate America“ by Black Professionals magazine. In 2005, he was named one of “The 75 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America“ by Black Enterprise magazine. In 2005, as well as in 2002, he was named one of “The 50 Most Important African Americans in Technology“ by eAccess Corp. In 2002, Mr. Wilkins was named by Fortune magazine as one of the “Nation's 50 Most Powerful Black Executives“ and was honored as a “distinguished alumnus“ of the Waco Independent School District in 2000. Black Enterprise named him one of the “Top 50 African Americans“ in 1999. And in 1997, he received the Eagle Award from the National Eagles Leadership Institute and was named Chief Executive Officer of the Year by the Minority Supplier Council. Mr. Wilkins holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas in Austin in 1974 and attended University of Pittsburgh's Management Program for Executives in October 1987.

Research Interest

 Economics & Management Sciences