In this episode of The Mentors Radio host Dan Hesse talks with Ambassador Randy Tobias, former Vice Chair of AT&T, and Chair and CEO of AT&T’s primary operating unit, AT&T Communications.
Randy left AT&T in 1993 to become Chair, President and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company. In 2003 President George W. Bush nominated him to be the founding United States Global AIDS Coordinator with the rank of Ambassador and with the charge to develop, launch and lead what became PEPFAR, a multibillion-dollar U.S. government initiative to blunt the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, first in sub-Saharan Africa and then globally.
Now in its twenty-second year, PEPFAR is credited with having saved more than 26 million lives. Subsequently President Bush named Randy Administrator of USAID and concurrently the first Director of all United States Foreign Assistance with the rank of Deputy Secretary of State.
Ambassador Tobias has been recognized with a long and diverse list of honors including five honorary degrees. He has served on a number of corporate and non-profit boards, and in leadership roles with numerous organizations including as chair of the boards of trustees of both Duke University and Indiana University. He is the author of two books, Put The Moose On The Table: Lessons In Leadership From A CEO’s Journey Through Business And Life, and Never Daunted: A Life and Legacy of Embracing Change, a memoir published in 2025.
Read more and listen to the full episode on TheMentorsRadioShow.com or through the podcast player below.
RADIO BROADCAST & STREAMING AUDIO
Listen Live at 1 pm PST each Saturday on the SALEM Radio Network (860 The Answer, San Francisco), and worldwide on iHeartRadio & TuneIn Radio.
This episode and past shows can also be found on your favorite PODCAST platform, like Apple, Spotify, or Tune-In, or at THEMENTORSRADIO.com.