Las Vegas — CTIA president/CEO Steve Largent issued a statement that Mark Desautels, 56, the association’s wireless internet development VP, died suddenly, here, yesterday.
Desautels died Monday afternoon, March 30, of an apparent heart attack while attending the association’s International CTIA Wireless 2009 trade show.
In his statement, Largent said, “Mark has been an outstanding employee since joining the association in 1998, and was a dear friend and valuable colleague to all of us here at CTIA and to many in the wireless industry. His insight and forward thinking were tremendous assets as he led several key industry business development initiatives, and I know he will be missed terribly. On behalf of CTIA-The Wireless Association’s staff and our members, we send our condolences to his family, especially his three daughters Alexandra, Meredith and Theresa. They will be in our thoughts and prayers.”
Desautels joined CTIA in 1998, and his primary responsibility was to oversee the activities of the Wireless Internet Caucus. Desautels also developed the educational sessions and selected speakers for the association’s two annual trade shows.
He joined CTIA after serving as president and CEO of the Wireless Data Forum, and prior to that, he was assistant to the director, Office of Intergovernmental Relations, Congressional Budget Office (CBO), where he was the agency press spokesperson and chief liaison officer.
Previously, Desautels was the Washington-based business and economics reporter for a chain of business news weeklies owned by Scripps-Howard, covering the telecommunications industry and other topics. He also covered Capitol Hill for Thomson Newspapers.
Desautels received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College and a Masters of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
No funeral arrangements have been made at this time.
