MCI Adds Five to Board

ASHBURN, Va. -- MCI (WCOEQ, MCWEQ) today appointed five new members to its board of directors, increasing the total number of directors to nine. The new members include: former Touche Ross Chairman W. Grant Gregory, retired Bell Atlantic executive Judith Haberkorn, Patton Boggs Partner Laurence Harris, former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, and MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC CEO David Matlin.

"The appointment of our newest board members is yet another positive step in the rebuilding of our company," said MCI Chairman and CEO Michael D. Capellas. "By attracting a broad range of talent on the board as well as the management team, we will continue to chart a new course for MCI, one in which our customers, employees and stakeholders can be proud."

The new board appointments will become effective on the day MCI formally emerges from Chapter 11 protection. The first order of business for the new board will be to elect a non-executive chairman among its independent directors. Once the non-executive chairman is named, Capellas, who supports the separation between chairman and CEO as an element of good governance, will retain the title of MCI's chief executive officer. Additionally, the company expects to name as many as three more board members prior to its emergence.

"Michael and the entire management team are focused on restoring the company's credibility and they are making every effort to build a winning team," said Irwin Gold of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, financial advisors to MCI's Unsecured Creditors Committee. "The new board is a clear indication of the value the management team places on depth of experience and commitment to the company's values of integrity, customer service and innovation."

The new directors satisfy the requirements of the company's new corporate governance standards announced this week by Corporate Monitor Richard Breeden. These new board members join Capellas and other previously existing MCI Board members, including former Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Dennis Beresford, former U.S. Attorney General and Undersecretary of State Nicholas Katzenbach, and former Equifax Chairman and CEO C.B. "Jack" Rogers.

W. Grant Gregory, Chairman, Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Merchant Bankers
Gregory, chairman and co-founder of Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Merchant Bankers, has served as chairman of audit, governance and nominating, Special Independent Directors and compensation committees for a number of NYSE member companies. He spent 24 years at Touche Ross & Co., serving from 1982 to 1986 as chairman. While at Touche Ross, Gregory became an internationally-acclaimed authority on tax policy and economic development and participated in a number of M&A transactions and restructurings. In the mid-1980's, he served as a member of the U.S. Trade Representative's advisory committee on international trade in services.

Gregory graduated with distinction from the University of Nebraska in 1964, where he was later awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, as well as the Builder Award, the University's highest non-academic recognition. Gregory completed advanced management studies at New York University and Harvard University's Graduate School of Business, and attended the Air Force War College.

Judith Haberkorn, retired President, Bell Atlantic, Consumer Sales & Service
As one of the first women recruited in 1968 to participate in AT&T's executive management-training program, Haberkorn's telecommunications career has been marked by several accomplishments. Prior to her retirement in June 2000, Haberkorn was appointed in 1998 president of Bell Atlantic Consumer Sales & Service, managing a 20,000-employee team, covering 13 states and the District of Columbia. Haberkorn was appointed in 1990 as an officer of NYNEX Corporation, where she served as vice president of Materials Management for the company's Telesector Resources Group. Prior to that, in 1988 she became the first female general manager of Special Services, responsible for providing telecommunications services to New England's largest corporate customers. Later that same year, she was named general manager of Access Markets, Marketing and Technology, leading a billion-dollar business unit that provided the largest and most profitable customers with a range of regional, national and international telecommunications access services.

Haberkorn is a member of several prominent national and international business groups and is a member of the visiting committee of the Harvard Business School. She is chair emerita for the Committee of 200. She holds a bachelor's from Briarcliff (N.Y.) College and completed Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.

Laurence E. Harris, Partner, Patton Boggs
Harris joined Patton Boggs in 2001 and concentrates his practice on legislative, regulatory, international and business issues. Prior to joining Patton Boggs, Harris was senior vice president and general counsel of Teligent, an international telecommunications company. In this position he developed and maintained the company's political relationships with the White House, Congress, and with state and federal regulators. He also oversaw international development activities.

From 1992 to 1996 Harris was senior vice president for law and public policy for MCI. In this capacity, he was responsible for MCI's federal and state regulatory relationships. He was also responsible for MCI's political relationships with the White House, Congress and state and federal regulators.

From 1982 to 1992 Harris served as president and chief executive officer for International Telecom Systems, Inc. and CRICO Communications and president and chief operating officer of Metromedia Telecommunications. Prior to Metromedia, Harris was chief of the FCC's Mass Media Bureau.

From 1972 to 1982 Harris served as a vice president of law and public policy for MCI, managing corporate relations for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the office of Telecommunications Policy at the White House.

Harris was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, serving in the destroyer fleet. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and is a member of the board of the Georgetown University Law School, his alma mater. His undergraduate degree is from Columbia University.

Eric Holder, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States
Eric Holder, currently a partner at Covington & Burling, is the former Deputy Attorney General of the United States and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Confirmed in 1993 as the first African-American to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Holder, among other accomplishments, created a Domestic Violence Unit, implemented a community prosecution project for safer neighborhoods and supported a renewed enforcement emphasis on hate crimes.

In 1997, President Clinton appointed Holder to serve as Deputy Attorney General, the number-two position in the United States Department of Justice. In his role, Holder supervised all of the Department's litigation, enforcement and administrative components in both civil and criminal matters.

As Deputy Attorney General, Holder was at that time the highest-ranking African-American person in law enforcement in the history of the United States. He held the title until the transition to the Bush Administration and briefly served under President George W. Bush as Acting Attorney General pending the confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

A graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law, Holder began his legal career in 1976 at the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program, where he was assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section. He investigated and prosecuted official corruption on local, state and federal levels. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan nominated Holder to become an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Senate confirmed Holder later that year and during his five-year term, he presided over hundreds of civil and criminal trials.

David Matlin, CEO, Global and Domestic Portfolio Manager, MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC
Matlin is CEO, global portfolio manager of MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC. Prior to July 2002, Matlin was responsible for the activities of the Credit Suisse First Boston Distressed Securities Group since its 1994 inception. Matlin has been an active participant in the distressed securities market for 17 years and has made investments in more than 25 countries in North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe and Australia. Prior to joining CSFB, Matlin was managing director of distressed securities and co-founder of Merrion Group, L.P., a successor to Scully Brothers & Foss L.P. from 1988 to 1994. From 1986 to 1988, he was a securities analyst at Halcyon Investments.

Matlin earned a JD from the Law School of the University of California at Los Angeles and a bachelor's in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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