ABOUT STAN SIGMAN
Stan Sigman built successful teams of strong leaders who were given the freedom to make decisions and were held accountable for results. He is an alum of the Paul & Virginia Engler College of Business at WT where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in 1970. Sigman began his career in telecommunications and wireless technology in the Texas Panhandle, and prominently went on to top leadership at AT&T prior to retirement. Sigman was instrumental in the industry-shaking AT&T partnership with Apple’s iPhones, which allowed the telecommunications company to be the exclusive carrier of iPhones in the first years they were on the market.
Paul Roth: “Apple saw an opportunity in the U.S. mobile market, so Steve Jobs went looking for a partner. He had a vision that Stan shared, but it required each company to do something neither had done before — to make an enormous bet on a partner. Until the day he died, Steve Jobs never forgot that Stan believed in him. Stan always said he never bet on a company. He bet on a person.”
STAN SIGMAN’S VALUES & PRINCIPLES
FRIENDS of STAN SIGMAN
As a celebration of his legacy, the Stan Sigman Business Leadership and Innovation Series emphasizes Stan Sigman’s leadership style. Those who knew Stan Sigman well knew him as a visionary whose leadership style encouraged, unleashed, and revealed innovation in others. In early 2021, a group of Stan Sigman’s closest contemporaries, proteges and colleagues – the Friends of Stan Sigman – were inspired to pay forward the impact Stan Sigman had on their careers, their personal development, and their lives. Understanding the importance of Stan’s ability to lead, the Friends of Stan Sigman were moved to invest in Stan Sigman’s alma mater, and the Texas Panhandle, as both were essential positive factors in Stan’s formative years. Enduring and timeless traits that lead to success in business, leadership, and in life constitute the essence of the gifts of Stan Sigman’s values and principles that underlie the Stan Sigman Business Leadership and Innovation Series.
Moving forward, the Stan Sigman Business Leadership and Innovation Series is an ongoing partnership between the Friends of Stan Sigman, the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, and West Texas A&M University to develop a multi-tiered program designed to engage the stakeholders and constituents of the West Texas A&M University community in honor of the role the institution played as among the shaping milestones in Stan’s life. In celebration of Stan Sigman’s successes in leadership, the series will focus on Stan’s insights, and the insights of others who share Stan’s disposition to achieve innovation through leadership.
