President of Telecommunications Giant Joins Other Industry and Civic Leaders

Carrie J. Hightman, an attorney and business leader in the telecommunications industry, recently was appointed to DePaul University’s Board of Trustees.

Hightman is currently president of SBC Ameritech Illinois and is responsible for all regulatory, government and external affairs, as well as community and industry relations throughout Illinois. She has held the position since April 2001.

Prior to joining SBC Ameritech Illinois, she spent 15 years with the law firm of Schiff, Hardin & Waite, most recently as the head of the firm’s Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Practice group. She began her career as staff counsel for the Florida Public Service Commission before serving as associate counsel to the Florida Office of Public Counsel.

Active in several business and civic organizations, Hightman is a trustee for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation. She is also on the board of directors for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Planning Council, in addition to being a member of the Illinois Business Roundtable.

Hightman holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and received her juris doctorate from Florida State University.

DePaul is the largest private university in Chicago and the largest Catholic university in the United States. The university enrolls a richly diverse population of 21,363 students who take classes on two city and six suburban campuses.

DePaul was founded in 1898 by the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers (the Congregation of the Mission), a Roman Catholic religious community which continues the mission and values of Vincent de Paul, the 17th century French saint. The university emphasizes academic excellence, service to the community, access to education and respect for the individual.