Tahlequah native Epperson to give Adair lecture at NSU

(Tahlequah, OK)--Drawing on his experiences developing corporate messages and strategy for a Fortune 10 company, Jim Epperson, AT&T senior vice president of strategic communication, will deliver the Larry Adair Lectureship at Northeastern State University on Monday, April 4.

Epperson, a Tahlequah native, served as president of AT&T Oklahoma before being promoted to AT&T global corporate positions. The public lecture is in the W. Roger Webb Educational Technology Center Auditorium at 11 a.m. Following the lecture, students, faculty and staff may join Epperson for lunch and a Q&A in the University Center Sen. Herb Rozell Ballroom. Drawings will be held to give away iPads following the lecture and luncheon.

While his address topic is technology, Epperson said advances in communication are still about enhancing personal dialogue.

"Communications companies like AT&T are in the business to help people build and nurture relationships, enabling the connections between people in different places," he said. "Technology continues to advance and change the ways we live, work and learn. Whats exciting to me is how those advances are making it even easier to stay in touch and share lifes experiences."

When Epperson began his career with Southwestern Bell in Oklahoma City in 1979, customers could choose from a small handful of telephones and long distance calling was reserved for the most important of occasions.
Now customers can choose from more than 600 wireless handsets. What was once the smallest of the Baby Bells is recognized as a worldwide leader of wireless and entertainment technology and services.

"It is amazing how far wireless communications technology has advanced during my career especially in the last decade and how much wireless technology has impacted so many aspects of our daily lives," Epperson said. "Ten years ago, who could have imagined that a father on a business trip could watch his childs soccer game on his phone, live? Or that we would be letting our friends know exactly which coffee shop we were sitting in without having to call them?"

AT&T credits Epperson's efforts as essential to providing competitive options to consumers. Epperson helped pass the nations first law to encourage additional investment in high speed Internet technology. He also led a team that won approval of the nations first state law encouraging competition in the cable television business.

As senior vice president of state legislative and regulatory affairs, Epperson assisted AT&T executives across the country as they worked to bring additional choices to consumers in all 50 states.

A graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma, Epperson and his wife Debbie have two children and two grandchildren. They live in Dallas.

The Larry Adair Lectureship Series is a program provided through the generosity of former Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Larry Adair. He is an NSU graduate and prior to representing Adair County at the state capitol in Oklahoma City, he was an educator and administrator in the Stilwell school system. For more information contact, NSU Community Relations at 918-444-2009.