| Bill (F. William) Conner | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater |
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Princeton University |
| Occupation | Chief executive officer |
| Website | |
| Entrust website | |
F. William "Bill" Conner is an American business executive currently with Entrust. Conner is involved in business and public-private initiatives that are building coalitions to protect information and online infrastructures in the United States and internationally. On a corporate level, he is a proponent of elevating information security to the corporate governance level.[1]
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Conner was born and reared in Arkansas. In 1981, he received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in mechanical engineering and later earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. Currently, he lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife.
From 1981 to 1992, Conner held positions at AT&T including senior engineer, operations manager and strategic planner. [2]
Conner held executive positions at Nortel Networks from 1992 to 2001. As the President of Enterprise Data Networks for Nortel, he managed its $9 billion acquisition of Bay Networks. He also served as the first Chief Marketing Officer of Nortel, launching the global marketing campaigns “Come Together” and “What Do You Want the Internet to Be?”[3]
Conner is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Entrust, a private software company that specializes in identity-based security. Conner is responsible for the creation and delivery of identity-based security software and services. [4] Upon joining the firm in 2001, he launched a restructuring effort to return the company to profitability as the company was losing $25 million per quarter. He launched a new business model focusing on product portfolios targeted to key verticals and geographies.[5]
Conner engineered the company’s acquisition by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2009,[6] and transitioned Entrust into a private firm. In 2010, Entrust reported 24 percent overall product growth along with an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin of 27 percent. [7]
Conner has been active in various public-private partnerships on cybersecurity, cybertheft and infrastructure security. He helped unveil the INTERPOL Global Smart eID Card and addressed the United Nations on global challenges in cybercrime in June 2010 [8] He co-chaired the Corporate Governance Task Force of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security National Cybersecurity Partnership [9] He has been a member of the Business Software Alliance [10] and the Cyber Security Industry Alliance(now a branch of TechAmerica technology trade association) [11] He created and co-chaired the Information Security Governance Task Force of the Business Software Alliance [12] He is a member of the Enterprise Software Roundtable [13]