Mary T. McDowell
Born1964 (age 59–60)[1]
Chicago, Illinois, USA
NationalityAmerican
EducationU. Illinois - Engineering BS, 1986 Computer Science
OccupationBusiness executive
AwardsDistinguished Alumni Award 2011[2]
World Master of Innovation 2009[3]
Top 10 Women in Wireless 2008[4]
Top 20 Women in Technology 2000[5]

Mary T. McDowell (born 1964) is an American technology executive.[6][7] From 2019-2021, she served as CEO of Mitel,[8][9] a global business communications provider. Prior to that, McDowell served as CEO for Polycom from 2016[10] until its sale to Plantronics in 2018.[11] While at Polycom, she led a strategic pivot to open ecosystems[12][13][14][15][16] and bought Obihai to strengthen the company’s phone and cloud products. She serves on the boards of Autodesk[17] and Informa plc.[18]

At Nokia she was in charge of its mobile phone division[19] and oversaw the introduction of Nokia Asha feature phones,[20] Nokia Life Tools,[21] and Nokia Money.[22]

Before Nokia, she worked at Compaq/Hewlett Packard from 1986 to 2003,[23] where she was at one point in charge of its server division.[24] In 2012 she was described as one of ten "disruptive individuals" reshaping the mobile phone industry.[25]

In 2018, she was recognized as one of the top 10 women in telecommunications.[26] She is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Engineering.[27]

Personal life

McDowell's husband is Kevin Longgino, the CEO of the National Kidney Foundation.[28]

References

  1. ^ Staff writer (October 18, 2004). "5 Women to Watch: We have a hunch they may grace the top 50 list someday". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved July 31, 2016. ...Mary McDowell, 40 -- SVP; General Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Nokia -- After leaving her strategy job at HP late last year, McDowell now oversees Nokia's new products, like wireless phones that double as computers--a centerpiece of the company's growth strategy....
  2. ^ Note: from the Illinois Computer Science department
  3. ^ World's Master of Innovation, (2009), CIO Most Innovative Companies, "Business Week" Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  4. ^ Top 10 Women in Wireless, (2008), Mary McDowell, Fierce Wireless. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  5. ^ Note: from the Association of Women in Computing
  6. ^ Ina Fried (September 3, 2003). "Former server exec gets new role at HP: Mary McDowell, who has been on a sabbatical, steps into a new role that oversees corporate strategy, putting to rest speculation that she might head to one of HP's rivals". CNET. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ...In finding a new position for McDowell, HP is hoping to put to rest speculation that the executive might head to one of HP's rivals in the server business....
  7. ^ Mike McGee (5 November 2003). "Mary McDowell leaves HP station: Or does the station leave Mary McDowell?". The Inquirer. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ...HP DENIED THAT MARY McDowell, top Compaq executive, was leaving the ship, as you can read in this story, published in July....((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Mitel Announces Mary T. McDowell as New President & CEO". www.mitel.com. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  9. ^ Panettieri, Joe (12 December 2021). "Mitel Layoffs 2021: Unified Communications Job Cuts After RingCentral Deal". Channel E2E. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Mary McDowell Named CEO of Polycom Effective as of the Closing of the Acquisition of Polycom by Affiliates of Siris=". Polycom Press Releases. September 7, 2016. Mary has a unique combination of technology and management experience leading multi-billion-dollar consumer and enterprise technology businesses in mobile, telecom, and enterprise sectors that make her a great fit for this role," said Frank Baker, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Siris Capital.
  11. ^ "Plantronics to buy Polycom in 2 billion dollar deal". bizjournals. March 28, 2018. ...With the addition of Polycom's solutions across video, audio and collaboration we will be able to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of communications and collaboration touch points and services to our customers and channel partners," Plantronics CEO Joe Burton said in a statement....
  12. ^ Dave Michels. "Mary McDowell Leading an Endpoint Empire". talkingpointz. ...McDowell says, "At Polycom, 40% of our executive team is female. I was fortunate to "grow up" at a time when the industry was more geek and less bro....
  13. ^ "Polycom CEO looking at 'competitors as partners'". CNBC. November 29, 2017.
  14. ^ "Polycom CEO on Video Conferencing, Microsoft Partnership". Bloomberg. March 17, 2017. ...Polycom's conference room speakers and video monitors have been staples in corporate boardrooms for decades. The company's sales growth hit a rough patch in recent years, but a $2 billion takeover has given it a new lease on life. Polycom CEO Mary McDowell appears on Bloomberg North with Anthony Lacavera to talk about the company's strategic shift.....
  15. ^ Zeus Kerravala (December 7, 2017). "Polycom Continues Marching to Its New Beat". no jitter. ...Polycom raised some eyebrows earlier this year when it announced a partnership with longtime competitor, Zoom. The deal was such a surprise because industry watchers in part link the ease of use and cloud-first approach of Zoom and companies like it to the decline that forced Polycom into retooling as a private company....
  16. ^ Jeffrey Burt (May 23, 2018). "Polycom Launches Cloud Services for Enterprises, Service Providers". eweek. ...Polycom is expanding its cloud capabilities for enterprises and service providers as part of a larger strategic shift that started when the collaboration technology vendor became a private company in 2016....
  17. ^ "Autodesk, Board of Directors, Executive Bios".
  18. ^ "Board of Directors".
  19. ^ Kevin J. O'Brien (August 15, 2010). "Nokia Seeks to Reconnect With the U.S. Market". New York Times.
  20. ^ Kevin J. O'Brien (October 26, 2011). "Nokia Unveils Enhanced Basic Phones". New York Times.
  21. ^ Kevin J. O'Brien (November 1, 2010). "Nokia Taking a Rural Road to Growth". New York Times.
  22. ^ Brett Young (December 14, 2003). "Nokia to launch mobile financial service". Reuters. ...The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia said on Wednesday it would launch a mobile financial service next year targeting consumers, mainly in emerging markets, with a phone but no banking account...
  23. ^ Jim Greer (December 14, 2003). "Compaq top execs going ... going... -- More Compaq bigwigs leave HP as post-merger culture starts to take root". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved July 31, 2016. ...Mary McDowell, who joined Houston-based Compaq in 1986, until recently was running a key server division and serving as senior vice president of strategy and corporate development at Hewlett-Packard. ... Nokia announced McDowell will start as head of its enterprise solutions group....
  24. ^ Daniel Lyons (April 3, 2000). "Speed Demons". Forbes. Retrieved July 31, 2016. ..."The little fish ultimately will eat the big fish," says Mary McDowell, general manager of Compaq's server division....
  25. ^ Dylan Tweney (March 21, 2012). "10 disruptive individuals who are reshaping the mobile industry". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 9, 2016. ...Sometimes disruption comes in the form of business innovation ... Executive vice president Mary T. McDowell leads Nokia's Mobile Phones business unit, which accounts for about half of Nokia's business....
  26. ^ Vilija Simkiene (November 27, 2018). "Top 10 Women in Telecommunications". voip. ...Mary McDowell is the chief executive officer and member of the board for Polycom, Inc. Prior to joining Polycom, Mary was in charge of Nokia's Mobile Phones unit, where she successfully improved on Nokia's No. 1 position in feature phones. Mary made her way up the corporate ladder at Nokia by changing their bureaucratic system...
  27. ^ "University of Illinois, Distinguished Alumni Award". September 7, 2016.
  28. ^ Dave Michels. "Polycom's Mary McDowell: Leading an Endpoint Empire". talkingpointz.
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