ParisTech Review

BIO

Ben Verwaayen is CEO of Alcatel-Lucent.

Previously, Ben Verwaayen was appointed to the Board of Directors of BT on January 14, 2002 and became Chief Executive on February 1, 2002. He left BT Group on June 1, 2008 as Chairman of the Board’s Operating Committee.

Before joining BT Group, he was at Lucent Technologies starting September 1997, holding various positions. He left Lucent as Vice Chairman of the Management Board. Other positions that Ben Verwaayen held at Lucent were Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Vice-President, International.

Prior to joining Lucent, Ben Verwaayen worked for KPN in the Netherlands for nine years as President and Managing Director of its subsidiary PTT Telecom. From 1975 to 1988, he worked at ITT in Europe.

Currently, Ben is also Chairman of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Climate Change Board and in August 2010 was elected member of the World Economic Forum’s Foundation Board.

He is an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, an Honorary Knight of the British Empire (KBE), and a Chevalier de la Légion d 'Honneur.

Ben Verwaayen is a Dutch national and graduated with a Master's degree in law and international politics from the State University of Utrecht, Holland.