The Smeal Executive MBA Team Blog

The fall guest speaker series at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business comes to a close on Dec. 5 when Daniel Mead, president of Verizon Services Corp., will be the college’s guest for Leadership in Focus: Executive Insights.

Mead will participate in an interactive on-stage conversation with Smeal Dean James B. Thomas, during which he will discuss his role at Verizon, offer some insights on leadership and business trends, and answer questions from the audience.  The conversation will be transmitted live to Smeal EMBA students and alum’s in the Phialdelphia area.

While on campus, Mead will also network with faculty and meet in small groups with interested students.

As president of Verizon Services Corp., Mead is responsible for overseeing all of the finance operations, real estate, and supply chain services for all Verizon companies. He is also responsible for Verizon’s 24 percent ownership of Vodafone Italia, a Vodafone-Verizon wireless joint venture in Italy, and sits on the Vodafone Italia Board of Directors.

Mead has a lead strategy role with an emphasis on transforming Verizon’s operating structure. He also co-chairs Verizon’s Corporate Responsibility and Workplace Culture Council, through which he is leading a variety of “green” initiatives that aim to reduce Verizon’s impact on the environment.

Mead was appointed to lead Verizon Services in October 2005, when the unit was created. He was one of the founding senior executives responsible for launching Verizon Wireless (VZW) in July 2000. From March 2001 to October 2005, he was president of VZW’s Midwest Area, a 15-state region with a population of 61 million that stretches from Pennsylvania to the Dakotas and from Minnesota to Kentucky. He has held various other leadership roles in telecommunications functions during his 29 years with Verizon and its predecessor companies.

Mead holds a bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Business Analysis and Finance and an M.B.A. from Smeal.

I enjoy wine, and I enjoy chocolate - in moderation.  I never had thought, however, that these two things could be paired for an amazing taste experience.  That all changed this past Friday when Traci Gentry, Director of Global Chocolate Innovation at The Hershey Company taught our students how to formally taste chocolate, how to describe the flavor nuances like a professional, and how to pair premium chocolate with readily available wines. The tasting included chocolates from Hershey’s extensive brand portfolio, including Cacao Reserve, Scharffen Berger, and Dagoba.  My favorite was the “Raging Bull Zinfandel & Dagoba” pairing.  Dagoba, an organic dark chocolate had (of all things) a chili pepper finish to it that was a very pleasant surprise and a great match to the spicy of zinfandel.  For our students it was another experience and an example of the learning that happens outside of the class room on Friday nights when you are enrolled in the Smeal EMBA program.