William (Bill)
Owens President and Chief Executive Officer

Bill Owens is president and chief executive officer of Nortel Networks. Previously, he was chief executive officer and chairman of Teledesic LLC and president, chief operating officer and vice chairman of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the U.S.'s largest employee-owned high-technology company.

Prior to joining SAIC, Owens was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the second-ranking military officer in the United States. He had responsibility for the reorganization and restructuring of the armed forces in the post-Cold War era. Widely recognized for bringing commercial high-technology into the Department of Defense for military applications, Owens was the architect of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), an advanced systems technology approach to military operations that is the most significant change in the system of requirements, budgets and technology for the four armed forces since World War II.

From 1991 to 1993, Owens was the deputy chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments. Owens served as commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in 1990 and 1991. Between 1988 and 1991, Owens served as senior military assistant to Secretaries of Defense Frank Carlucci and Dick Cheney, the senior military position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

In 1988, Owens was the director of the Office of Program Appraisal for the Secretary of the Navy. In 1987, he served as commander of Submarine Group Six, the Navy's largest submarine group with 20 strategic ballistic missile submarines, 45 nuclear attack submarines, and more than 15,000 men and women. Earlier in his career, he commanded Submarine Squadron Four, the USS Sam Houston and the USS City of Corpus Christi.

Owens has written more than 50 articles on national security and authored the book "High Seas." His latest book, "Lifting the Fog of War," was published in April 2000. He is a 1962 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He has a bachelor and masters degrees in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University and a masters in management from George Washington University. He joined Teledesic in August 1998.

He is the founder of Extend America, a five year state wireless telecommunications venture and also sits on the public boards of Nortel Networks and Daimler Chrysler AG. Owens is the senior advisor to AEA Investors LLC and is a member of several philanthropic boards including the Carnegie Foundation, Brookings Institution and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He is also a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.