Dennis M. Bone is president of Verizon New Jersey Inc., and is responsible for all of Verizon's corporate interests in New Jersey.

Prior to the Bell Atlantic/GTE merger, Mr. Bone was president and chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic-West Virginia, a position he held since 1995. Prior to that, he was vice president of external affairs for Bell Atlantic-New Jersey Inc.

He started his Bell Atlantic career in 1979 as an outside plant engineer for New Jersey Bell. He worked in operations, competitive assessment, rate planning and regulatory matters before being named vice president of external affairs for Bell Atlantic-New Jersey on March 1, 1993.

He is a 1973 graduate of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology, with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He also has an MBA degree in finance and economics from Rutgers University and an master's degree in counseling from Johns Hopkins University. He also has been awarded three honorary doctorates.

He serves as chairman of New Jersey Reads. He is on the board of trustees of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Newark Alliance, the Liberty Science Center, Centenary College and the New Jersey Network Foundation. In addition, he is on the board of directors of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce (as well as its executive committee), the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Regional Business Partnership, the New Jersey Utilities Association and Prosperity New Jersey. He also is chairman of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation board of directors.

Bone, his wife, Denise, and their three children -- Allison, David and Austin -- live in Madison, NJ.