TDS Appoints Theodore Wiessing As Vice President And Chief Information Security Officer; And Laurie Ruchti As Vice President, IT Strategy, Architecture And Quality

CHICAGO, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE: TDS, TDS.S) today announced that the company has appointed Theodore E. Wiessing as vice president and Chief Information Security Officer, and Laurie A. Ruchti as vice president, IT Strategy, Architecture and Quality, effective November 28. Wiessing and Ruchti will report to Kurt B. Thaus, TDS senior vice president and Chief Information Officer.

Wiessing, previously TDS' senior director of IT Application Development and Support, will oversee TDS' information security program—including policy, governance and compliance—as well as the company's day-to-day information security operations. Prior to joining TDS in 2002, he held senior IT consulting positions with Accenture for a broad range of clients.

Ruchti, previously TDS' senior director of IT Strategy, Architecture, Quality and Security, brings 25 years of experience at TDS to her new role leading the strategic direction of TDS' corporate IT organization. Her prior roles with TDS include leadership of TDS' IT Application Development and Support, Customer Service and Support, and IT Strategy departments. Ruchti will also now lead TDS' Organizational Readiness team, to incorporate organizational change management into the solution design process from the beginning.

" Ted Wiessing and Laurie Ruchti each bring tremendous company and IT experience to their roles, along with exemplary drive and leadership skills," said Kurt Thaus. "I'm confident that they will enable TDS to maintain the highest standards of information security and drive sound and innovative solutions to our business units and corporate end users."

Wiessing has a BS in aeronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Ruchti has a BS in business administration with a computer science emphasis from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville, and an MS in business from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

About TDS

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS), a Fortune 500® company, provides wireless, local and long-distance telephone, and broadband services to approximately 7 million customers in 36 states through its business units, U.S. Cellular (wireless) and TDS Telecom (wireline). Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, TDS employed 12,300 people as of September 30, 2011.

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