Allgood Announces Retirement From BellSouth; McCullouch Named President of Mississippi Operations - J. Kelly Allgood, John M. McCullouch - Company Operations

Cambridge Telcom Report, March 6, 2000

J. Kelly Allgood, president of BellSouth's Mississippi operations, will retire April 30, 2000, bringing to a close a distinguished 35-year career with the company. John M. McCullouch, currently general counsel for BellSouth's Mississippi operations, has been promoted to replace Allgood.

Allgood began his telecommunications career in 1965 as unit manager with Southern Bell in Gulfport. Prior to assuming his current position in 1988, he held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility throughout the company, including district marketing manager both on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in Birmingham, Ala., operations manager for the business service center in Jackson, and assistant vice president for public affairs in Jackson from 1984 to 1988.

"Over the past 35 years, Kelly has made a significant impact on our business -- most recently in his role as president of our Mississippi operations," said Margaret Greene, BellSouth's executive vice president for Regulatory & External Affairs. "Under his leadership our Mississippi operations obtained approval from the state Public Service Commission to apply to the FCC for entry into the long distance market in Mississippi, successfully implemented price regulation, and, most recently, obtained legislative relief, which gives us equitable tax treatment. He is leaving us in a great position to face the competitive challenges awaiting us in Mississippi. The company owes him a real debt of gratitude."

A native of Benton, Miss., Allgood is a graduate of Mississippi College in Clinton. He also completed the Indiana Executive Program at the Indiana University Graduate School of Business.

Allgood is heavily involved in education in Mississippi. He served as chairman of the board of the Public Education Forum of Mississippi the first two years of its existence and remains on its board of directors. He also is a member of the Board of Trustees of Mississippi College, and he previously served on the boards for the Center for Telecommunications at the University of Mississippi and at Piney Woods Country Life School, and he was on the President's Advisory Council at Jackson State University.

Allgood also serves on the boards of Trustmark Corporation, Trustmark National Bank, the MetroJackson Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Association of Mississippi, the Institute for Technology Development (ITD), Capital Center Inc., the Mississippi Resource Center, and the Metropolitan YMCA. He also served as Area 9 president for the Southern Region of the Boy Scouts of America and on the board of the Southern Region. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Jackson and the Newcomen Society of the US.

Allgood and his wife, Nancy, have two daughters, Tracey Miller and Wendy Cole, a son, Kevin Allgood, and four grandsons.

John M. McCullouch, general counsel for BellSouth in Mississippi, has been promoted to replace Allgood, effective April 1, 2000.

A native of Louisville, Miss., McCullouch received a BA degree from Mississippi State University in 1971, and a JD degree from the University of Mississippi in 1978. In law school, he was elected student body president and received the Dean's Distinguished Service Award. Prior to law school, McCullouch served in the US Army for two years as a personnel specialist assigned to the Pentagon, then worked for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for four years as a sales representative.

McCullouch began his telecommunications career in 1979 as an attorney for South Central Bell in Jackson. In 1984, he moved to Birmingham, Ala., to work in the headquarters legal department. In 1985, he was named general counsel for BellSouth Advanced Systems, Inc., and he was named to his current position in 1986.

Active in civic affairs, McCullouch currently serves as board member and treasurer of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi; is on the Community Advisory Board of the Junior League of Jackson, serves on the Board of Governors of the University Club, is vice president of the Magnolia Council of the Telephone Pioneers of America, and is a member of the Downtown Rotary Club.

Also active in professional organizations, McCullouch currently serves on the Board of Commissioners of the Mississippi Bar, is chairman of the Professionalism Award Selection Committee of the Hinds County Bar Association, serves on the American Arbitration Association's Regional Advisory Council for Commercial Disputes, is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, is a member of the University of Mississippi Lamar Order, and is province president for Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity over the seven law school chapters of the fraternity in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

McCullouch also is past president of the Hinds County Bar Association, the University of Mississippi Law Alumni Association, the Mississippi Corporate Counsel Association, and the Mississippi Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.