Taking the Reins: Deirdre Murray

Group manager for market development, Sprint Government Systems Division, Herndon, Va., a unit of Sprint Corp., Westwood, Kan. March 13 46 La Jolla, Calif. Arlington, Va. "Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times," by Helen Thomas, and "The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business As Usual" by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, David Weinberger Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey Frank McCourt Billy Crystal, Robin Williams Tennis, jogging, swing dancing, reading, traveling "I'm a West Coaster, and I go home a lot, so some of my very favorites are there. One in particular in Solana Beach, Calif., is the Pampelemousse Grill." "Always leave 'em laughing when you say goodbye." ? George M. CohanDo your homework, and play to your strengths. University of California at Los Angeles, bachelor of arts in sociology, 1975.University of Maryland at College Park, candidate for master's of science in telecommunications management. 1995-99: GTE Government Systems1986-95: US West1978-86: Sprint"My core competency is my experience in telecommunications. ... I was eyeing the marketplace, weighing whether I wanted to go with a company that was pure IT or telecommunications. I decided it was smarter to leverage [telecom]. Part of my strategy to come back was to play off that."The industry in general is going through tremendous change; it's building energy and excitement. And Sprint is a quality company with strong name recognition.""Sprint is trying to go beyond FTS2001, the current contract with [the General Services Administration], and I was brought in to broaden that reach and convey Sprint in the marketplace as a total solutions provider, play off the strengths of its Internet services group and its broader array of services. Sprint is not well-known beyond the core FTS2001 contract, but they really bring more strengths to the table. The role I play is to broaden Sprint's presence in the marketplace and core competencies in other areas, and to help grow the federal business."