Year Honored: 2007

Biography

Carolyn S. Burger served as CEO and President of Bell Atlantic-Delaware for 34 years. She began her career at Bell in 1962, as a management trainee in a company “experiment” to hire woman in that role. In 1985, she was promoted to Assistant Vice President and served in that role – though in different divisions – until 1991. “I don’t think they underestimated me,” she said, “they just didn’t count me at all. I was a woman; therefore, I wasn’t considered.”

In 1991, she was elected President and CEO of Bell Atlantic-Delaware. Each day, Burger wore a bow blouse, as she found that to be the equivalent of the men’s dress code of a suit and tie. She retired in 1996.

She was widely recognized as a business and civic leader, serving on the board of directors for the Wilmington Trust Company, Betz Laboratories, Brandywine Conservancy, WHYY, and the Delaware Community Foundation, and chairing the Delaware Business Roundtable. Berger also served on the boards of GDE Systems, Inc, the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, the Balch Institute of Ethnic Studies, and the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

From 1991 until 2001, Burger created and ran a consulting firm specializing in regulation and legislation, information technology deployment for senior teams, and assisting high potential women in achieving senior leadership positions in major corporations. She was awarded the distinguished alumnae award from her alma mater, Wilson College and in 1998, she was inducted into the Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame.
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Sources and Additional Readings

Board Members. Leadership Delaware. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://leadershipdelaware.org/the-board/

Newman, M. (2018, April 19). 3 Delaware women reflect on how they broke into 'good ol' boys club'. The News Journal. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.delawareonline.com/story/life/2018/04/19/delaware-women-equal-rights-amendment/521822002/

Specified, N. (2021, October 7). Bell Atlantic-Delaware president Carolyn S. Burger leaving Bell Atlantic. About Verizon. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.verizon.com/about/news/press-releases/bell-atlantic-delaware-president-carolyn-s-burger-leaving-bell-atlantic