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John D. Zeglis is the retired chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services and was president of AT&T prior to the spinoff of AT&T Wireless as a public company in 2000. Most recently, he was the founder and chairman of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, which played eight seasons in the NBA’s D-League before their sale to the Indiana Pacers in August 2015.
 
Zeglis grew up in Momence, Illinois. He spent his undergraduate years at the University of Illinois, where he was valedictorian of his 1969 class in the College of Commerce and Business Administration. He is a1972 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was a senior editor of the Harvard Law Review and won a Knox Memorial Fellowship for a year of postgraduate study in law and economics in Europe.

Zeglis began his career in law in 1973 as an associate with Sidley & Austin. He became partner in 1978, and on January 1, 1984, he joined AT&T as corporate vice president – law. Zeglis was named AT&T’s executive vice president and general counsel in 1986. While retaining that title he served in a series of executive assignments with increasing responsibility before being elected vice chairman in June 1997. Later that year, he was named president of AT&T. In December 1999, Zeglis was elected chairman and CEO of the AT&T Wireless Group. In April 2000, AT&T Wireless conducted an initial public offering, and in July 2001, AT&T distributed the remaining stock in AT&T Wireless, making Wireless a fully independent public company. Zeglis continued as CEO of AT&T Wireless until retiring in November 2004, following the company’s sale to Cingular Wireless.

Zeglis is a member of the boards of trustees of the Culver Educational Foundation, Culver, Indiana; the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center of Mishawaka, Indiana (chairman); Manchester University; the Center for Professional Responsibility at the University of Illinois; Indiana Landmarks Commission; the Lake Maxinkuckee Gift of Warmth; WNIT Public TV of South Bend; America’s Public Television Stations; and the Maxinkuckee Country Club. Zeglis is a frequent lecturer on the campuses of colleges and universities and has been awarded honorary Doctor of Law degrees by the George Washington University, Indiana Tech University and Valparaiso University.

He has served as chairman of the boards of trustees of the George Washington University; Manchester University; the St. Joseph Hospital of Plymouth, Indiana; the Howard University Hospital; and the Marshall County Community Foundation. Other past associations include membership on the boards of: Howard University; Valparaiso University; Friends of the Lincoln Collection; the United Negro College Fund; the Colonial Symphony (N.J.); The Brookings Institution; the Rural Community Trust; Catalyst Inc. (for women in business); National Legal Center for the Public Interest;  University of Illinois Business Advisory Council; Northwestern University Kellogg School Advisory Council; University of Washington Business School Advisory Council; Purdue University Libraries Dean’s Advisory Council; Council for Aid to Education; National Commission for Higher Education; Drew University Visitors; and the United Way of Marshall County.

Zeglis is a director of the Helmerich and Payne Corp. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and The Duchossois Group of Companies of Chicago. He is a former director of the State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., Sara Lee Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp., the Illinois Power Co. and Telstra Inc. of Australia (telecommunications).

Zeglis has been married to Carol (Hamm) since 1969. They have three children: Mark of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Julie (husband Jeff) of Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Brian (wife Emily) of New York City. He and Carol have nine grandchildren (so far!).