Steve Alexander, SVP & Chief Technology Officer, Ciena

Stephen Alexander earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

He honed his skills and launched his career at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, which develops advanced technologies for the U.S. Department of Defense.

In 1994 he joined Ciena, a start-up at the time, as one of its first employees. Before rising to CTO, Alexander managed teams in a variety of areas at Ciena, including Transport and Switching, Data Networking, and Lightwave Systems.

Now he sits on the board of several prominent telecom groups and has won several industry honors, including the IEEE Communications Society Industrial Innovation Award.

When he’s not at Ciena, Alexander, who worked in high school at a TV and radio repair shop, enjoys things that get him outside and working with his hands.