Biographical Information

Tom B. Rabon, Jr.

Tom Rabon, Jr. is a native of Brunswick County, North Carolina and attended public schools there. His is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Political Science. During his years at Carolina, he was very active in the North Carolina Student Legislature and a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity.

In 1975, he served as a Lyndon Baines Johnson Intern in U. S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC. He also served as a Community Development Intern for United Telecommunications, Inc. (later became Sprint) in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1984, he attended the Executive Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has completed various courses at the AT&T School of Business including the AT&T Advanced Management Program.

Shortly after graduation from college, he served as a substitute high school teacher before becoming Director of Planning for Brunswick County, North Carolina. In 1978, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives at age 24, one of the youngest persons ever elected to that body. He was re-elected to the Legislature in 1980 and 1982. While serving in the Legislature, he was Chairman of the Energy Committee and the Committee on Manufacturing and Labor.

In 1983, he left the Legislature to become State Manager of Government Relations for AT&T. He was later promoted to State Vice President Government Affairs for AT&T. In that capacity, he was responsible for all regulatory, legislative and industry affairs for AT&T in North Carolina. On February 1, 1996, he accepted a position with Lucent Technologies as Vice President State Public Affairs., with responsibility for all of Lucent's public affairs activities in the 50 states and Canada. On February 1, 1998 his responsibilities were expanded to include the Caribbean and Latin America and the Asia Pacific Regions. In September 2001, he became Vice President, Global Government Affairs and was given responsibility for all of Lucent's government affairs activities throughout the world. In January 2003, he accepted a position as Executive Vice President Corporate Affairs with Red Hat, Inc., a position which he currently holds. He serves as a member of Red Hat's Executive Management Team and has the global responsibility for Red Hat's corporate affairs activities.

He has served on various Boards and Commissions, including the Board of Advisors of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the University of North Carolina Alumni Association. He has been a Member of the Board of Directors of NCEITA. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington for 8 years including one term as Chairman of the Board. He currently serves on the Board of the North Carolina World Trade Center and the NC Citizens for Business and Industry. In 1998, he received the Razor Walker Award “In recognition of Distinguished Service to the People of North Carolina”.

His hobbies include offshore saltwater fishing and spending time at his home in Southport, on the coast of North Carolina. He is married to Susan Warren Rabon, an attorney and Senior Assistant to the Governor of North Carolina and they have one son, six year old John Robert Rabon They reside in Holly Springs, North Carolina.