Mr. Ford was Chairman of the Board of ALLTEL Corporation, a telecommunications company. He was named President of ALLTEL upon its formation in 1983 from a merger between Allied Telephone Company and Mid-Continent Telephone Corporation, became Chief Executive Officer in 1987, assumed the title of Chairman in 1991 and retired as the Chief Executive Officer in July 2002, and he retired as Chairman in November 2007. Mr. Ford is a director of EnPro Industries, Inc.