Executives and Board
F. William (Bill) Conner
Entrust Chairman, President and CEO
Bill Conner is among the most experienced security and infrastructure executives worldwide with a career that spans more than 20 years across numerous high-tech industries. As a corporate turn-around and cyber security expert, Conner has achieved a number of milestones since he joined Entrust as President and CEO in April 2001. He immediately reset the company's priorities in order to regain momentum and return to profitability while also changing the business model by reorganizing the organizational structure and products to focus on extended governments, and the global 1000 extended enterprises. These moves have helped Entrust regain competitiveness as a global leader in securing digital identities and information. Under Conner's leadership, the company has delivered more new products, capabilities and solutions than in any period in the company's history, while also creating an industry-leading service and support organization. In 2003, Conner received the Corporate CEO Award as part of the annual Tech Titans Award program.
Most recently, Conner has been a leader in the effort to elevate information security to a corporate governance issue and fashion a public-private partnership to protect America's critical infrastructure. He launched and co-chaired the Business Software Alliance Information Security Governance Task Force, which released a security management framework in April 2003. He was a driving force behind the EastWest Institute Worldwide Security Forum, which hosted an international dialogue on these issues in November 2003. And he co-chaired the Corporate Governance Task Force of the National Cyber Security Partnership, which held its first meeting at the National Cyber Summit in December 2003 and released its report "Information Security Governance: A Call to Action" in April 2004.
Before Conner joined Entrust, he held various senior executive positions at Nortel Networks, including president of Nortel Enterprise Networks and e-Business Solutions where he successfully turned around the global $5 billion business. Conner also served as president of Nortel's first Enterprise Data Networks line of business, where he orchestrated for Nortel its $9 billion acquisition of Bay Networks. In addition, he served as Nortel Networks' first chief marketing officer and spearheaded the integration and alignment of the corporation's strategic communications, branding and marketing, including its global "Come Together" and "What Do You Want The Internet To Be?" marketing campaigns. This work had a dramatic increase in brand recognition and business results. He was named "hi-tech marketer of the year" in 2000. Conner joined Nortel Networks in 1992 from AT&T;, where he served in various leadership positions.
Conner is on the board of directors of the Metroplex Technology Business Council, the EastWest Institute and the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series at Southern Methodist University. He is also a member of the Dallas Citizen's Council, the DFW Wharton Club Advisory Board, as well as the advisory board of Temerlin Advertising Institute for Education and Research at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Board of Directors. He previously served on the Boards of Travelocity, Williams Communications, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Conner graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
