SOUTHFIELD – The Engineering Society of Detroit announced Monday that Robert Magee, who had been serving as interim executive vice president since August, now has the job full time. He was named to the permanent post by a vote of the ESD Board of Directors last week, following a national search.

Magee is a veteran executive with 20 years of progressively greater responsibilities at AT&T Advertising Solutions. He worked for the telecommunications company as a general manager, regional vice president, Midwest sales vice president, and vice president of telephone sales, during a career that took him from his native Mississippi to positions in Dallas, Texas, Los Angeles, California, and finally, Detroit.

Magee is a 1980 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi.

?Robert Magee has proven capabilities in exceeding financial goals, motivating staff, and strong communications and negotiating skills,? said Kouhaila Hammer, president of the ESD Board of Directors. ?His organizational skills will give ESD a strong foundation on which to build its next 120 years of member service and fostering the next generation of engineers and technical professionals. And his leadership skills will inspire both ESD?s dedicated volunteer base and skilled professional staff to even greater achievements.? Hammer is president and CEO of Ghafari Associates LLC, a Dearborn-based architecture, design, engineering and construction planning firm.

Founded in 1895 by a group of engineering students at the University of Michigan, ESD is a membership organization that provides continuing education, networking and leadership development opportunities to today?s working engineers, as well as to professionals in related technical and scientific fields, from information technology to construction management. The ESD also works to build excitement and interest among students in careers in the STEM disciplines ? science, technology, engineering, and mathematics ? through a variety of programs. Included are the Future City competition, in which middle school students design a city set 150 years in the future, and Engineering SMArT Michigan, in which high school students design an energy-efficient home. In both events, student teams work with mentors and judges who are volunteer ESD members.

For more information, click on ESD.Org