Charles L. Brown, Retired AT&T Chairman and CEO, dies at 82
Wednesday November 12, 3:16 pm ET

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Charles L. Brown, the
courtly Virginian who headed one of the largest corporations
in United States history and then agreed to the historic
1984 breakup of the former "Bell System," died here today
after a lengthy illness. He was 82 and had lived in
Princeton, N.J., since 1975.

Before retiring in August 1986, Mr. Brown had been chairman
and CEO of the former American Telephone & Telegraph
Company for seven of his 40 years with the company. In 1982,
Mr. Brown made the decision to divest all of the Bell
TelephoneCompanies as a means of settling antitrust
litigation with the Federal government. His action produced
the largest corporate reorganization in history. He also led
AT&T's initial efforts to establish business units and
partnerships in Europe and Asia.

The January 1, 1984, "divestiture" of AT&T unleashed a wave
of deregulation and market competition that continues today
in customers' ability to choose their telephone equipment and
services. At the time of the breakup, AT&T had some 975,000
employees. The company formally changed its name to AT&T
Corporation in 1994.

Until the breakup, AT&T had consisted of the Bell System's
vertically integrated telephone research and equipment-
anufacturing units, its local telephone operating companies
 - which provided most of the nation's local telephone
service -- as well as its long-distance operations and other
services.

The local telephone spinoffs are known today as BellSouth
Corporation, Qwest Communications International, SBC
Corporation and Verizon Communications Inc.

In 1996, AT&T divested its equipment-manufacturing
operations into Lucent Technologies, which subsequently
spun off Avaya Inc. and Agere Systems Inc.

Mr. Brown was born in Richmond on August 23, 1921. He
graduated from the University of Virginia in 1943 with a
bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. He
then entered the U.S. Navy, and served in the Pacific
theatre of World War II aboard the battleship U.S.S.
Mississippi. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of
lieutenant.

Upon leaving military service, he joined the AT&T Long
Lines department in Hartford, Conn. He progressed
rapidly through a series of management positions of
increasing responsibility, becoming vice president and
general manager of Illinois Bell in 1963; six years
later, he was elected CEO of that company. He became
executive vice president of AT&T in 1974; vice chairman
of the board and chief financial officer of AT&T in
1976; president of AT&T in 1977, and chairman of the
board in 1979.

During and following his AT&T career Mr. Brown served
on the boards of directors of many corporations,
including E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Metropolitan
Life, Delta Airlines, Chemical Bank, General Foods,
Hart Schaffner & Marx and Ryder Systems.

He also served on the Board of the Public Broadcasting
System and The Institute for Advanced Study and was a
Trustee of the Aspen Institute and chairman of the
board of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He was
a member of the board of visitors at the University of
Virginia and a trustee of the University of Chicago,
Loyola University in Chicago, and Lake Forest College
in Lake Forest, IL.

He was also a member of the Business Council, the
Business Roundtable and numerous nonprofit organizations,
including the Boy Scouts of America,YMCA, Travelers Aid
Society and the National Parks Foundation.

Mr. Brown held honorary doctorates conferred by Colgate
University,Princeton University, Amherst College,
Northwestern University and Pace University. He was also
a trustee of the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

Mr. Brown and the former Ann Lee Saunders were married
in 1959. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his
son, Dr. Charles A. Brown, of Kona, Hawaii, and grandson,
Alexander Lee Brown, of Bakersfield, Calif.