Verizon Executives

Thomas J. Tauke
Executive Vice President - Public Affairs, Policy and Communications
Verizon Communications

Download Photos in: Color Black & White Speeches Thomas J. Tauke Speeches

Thomas J. Tauke is executive vice president - Public Affairs, Policy and Communications, a position he has held since May 2004. In this role, Tauke oversees media relations, employee communications, reputation management, philanthropy, corporate responsibility and external relations for Verizon.  As the company’s senior policy executive, he is responsible for the development of Verizon’s public policy positions and advocacy at the local, state, federal, and international levels.  He serves as a member of Verizon’s Leadership Council.

Before joining NYNEX (a predecessor company of Verizon) in 1991, Tauke was a member of Congress, representing Iowa’s Second Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. During his congressional service from 1979 to 1991, he was a member of the Telecommunications Subcommittee. He served on the Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and Small Business Committees, as well as the Select Committee on Aging. He also was on the Pepper Commission on Comprehensive Health Care, the Infant Mortality Commission and the Biomedical Ethics Board.

Tauke served as a member of the Iowa General Assembly from 1975 to 1979.

Tauke is a past chairman of the United States Telecom Association (USTA) where he is currently on the Board of Directors and is a member of the executive committee.  He is chairman of the board of Home Technology Systems, Inc., in Dubuque, Iowa; serves as vice-chair of the Board of the Business Industry Political Action Committee; is member of the Board of Directors of Connected Nation, which partners with public and private entities to encourage broadband connectivity, and the National Academy Foundation and Jobs for America’s Graduates, two organizations that support mentoring, job-training and education for young people; and is chairman of the Board of Regents of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.

Tauke received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loras College in 1972 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1974.

Tauke and his wife, Beverly, have two children, Joseph and Elizabeth. 

November 2008