John Sidgmore -- vice chairman of WorldCom and chairman of its subsidiary firm, UUNET, and one of the foremost experts in the Internet and telecommunications industry -- will address Montgomery College students and local business leaders at a special lecture to be sponsored by the College’s Macklin Business Institute. The lecture, which is free and open to public, is set for Thursday, Feb. 8, 9:30 a.m., in Globe Hall of the Montgomery College Germantown Campus's High Technology and Science Center.

Sidgmore joined UUNET in 1994 as president and chief executive officer. Since that time, UUNET, now a WorldCom company, has become the world’s largest Internet access provider with more than 70,000 business customers and 6,500 employees worldwide.

Under his leadership, UUNET grew from $6 million in revenue in 1994 to over $3 billion today. UUNET also completed the third most successful initial public offering on Nasdaq in 1995.

Sidgmore was instrumental in UUNET’s $2 billion merger with MFS Communications Company, and became president of the combined companies in 1996. With the subsequent $14 billion merger between MFS and WorldCom, Inc., he became vice chairman and chief operations officer of WorldCom. Sidgmore also shares his leadership and expertise as chairman of the board at Strategy.com and e-Commerce Industries.com.

Sidgmore has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Business Week, and many other publications. He was recently named by Upscale Magazine as the most influential communications executive in the nation, and was awarded the Golden Plate Award by the American Academy of Achievement.

Montgomery College's Germantown Campus is located just off MD Route 118, at 20200 Observation Drive. For more information on the February 8 lecture, contact Jeff Schwartz, director of the Macklin Business Institute at 240-567-5151.