New IBEW International President Lonnie R. Stephenson has succeeded recently retired International President Edwin Hill as that affiliate’s MTD executive board member.
Brother Stephenson began his apprenticeship as an inside wireman in 1975 and was initiated as a member of IBEW Local 145 the next year. The Rockford, Illinois, native was active in his local in various capacities before being elected its vice president in 1984. Three years later, he became its president, a post he held for five years.
In 1991, he was appointed the local’s business manager, and was elected business manager in 1996. During his tenure as business manager, he launched an organizing effort that boosted the local’s membership from 700 to more than 1,100 members.
At the start of 2002, then-President Hill appointed Stephenson as the international representative for the union’s Sixth District. On September 1, 2010, he was named Sixth District International Vice President, and was elected to a five-year term the following year.
Stephenson became IBEW International President on June 1.