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Mr. Lightsey has more than 25 years experience in the telecommunications industry as both an executive and attorney, holding a variety of positions in both the external affairs and the legal departments of BellSouth and AT&T, where he served as state president for South Carolina and president of the Southeast region following the merger of BellSouth and AT&T. He was most recently AT&T’s senior vice president for state compliance. Mr. Lightsey retired from AT&T in July 2009.
As a business leader in South Carolina, Mr. Lightsey focused on economic development, especially efforts to move South Carolina into the forefront of the new knowledge-based economy. In 2002, Governor Jim Hodges awarded him the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest citizen recognition, for his work as chairman of the steering committee for the South Carolina Technology Transition Team, resulting in the enactment of the Research Centers of Excellence Act, which has funded leading research at the three state research universities.
Dedicated to education issues in South Carolina, Mr. Lightsey is the founder of Palmetto Partners for Science and Technology and former co-chair of Project Lead the Way’s steering committee, which are programs designed to increase the number of high school students involved in math, science and engineering in South Carolina. He is also former chairman of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s Excellence in Education Council and was a member of the K-12 School Technology Initiative, a groundbreaking public/private partnership that spearheaded efforts to deploy technology in South Carolina classrooms and public libraries. He has served on the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, which oversees the recognized South Carolina accountability program. He is a former board chair of the Hammond School, the state’s largest independent K-12 school.
Mr. Lightsey received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He has also served on the Princeton National Alumni Executive Board and on the Board of Trustees of the College of Charleston. He was a founding board member of both City Year Columbia and EdVenture Children’s Museum.
Harry M Lightsey III
Mr. Lightsey has more than 25 years experience in the telecommunications industry as both an executive and attorney, holding a variety of positions in both the external affairs and the legal departments of BellSouth and AT&T, where he served as state president for South Carolina and president of the Southeast region following the merger of BellSouth and AT&T. He was most recently AT&T’s senior vice president for state compliance. Mr. Lightsey retired from AT&T in July 2009.
As a business leader in South Carolina, Mr. Lightsey focused on economic development, especially efforts to move South Carolina into the forefront of the new knowledge-based economy. In 2002, Governor Jim Hodges awarded him the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest citizen recognition, for his work as chairman of the steering committee for the South Carolina Technology Transition Team, resulting in the enactment of the Research Centers of Excellence Act, which has funded leading research at the three state research universities.
Dedicated to education issues in South Carolina, Mr. Lightsey is the founder of Palmetto Partners for Science and Technology and former co-chair of Project Lead the Way’s steering committee, which are programs designed to increase the number of high school students involved in math, science and engineering in South Carolina. He is also former chairman of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s Excellence in Education Council and was a member of the K-12 School Technology Initiative, a groundbreaking public/private partnership that spearheaded efforts to deploy technology in South Carolina classrooms and public libraries. He has served on the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, which oversees the recognized South Carolina accountability program. He is a former board chair of the Hammond School, the state’s largest independent K-12 school.
Mr. Lightsey received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He has also served on the Princeton National Alumni Executive Board and on the Board of Trustees of the College of Charleston. He was a founding board member of both City Year Columbia and EdVenture Children’s Museum.