Mary Dillon (second from right), the chief marketing officer for McDonald’s, with winners of a McDonald’s “global spokesman contest” in 2007.

Tribune staff report | U.S. Cellular Corp. named McDonald’s Corp.
marketing chief Mary N. Dillon as president and chief executive officer
of the Chicago-based wireless carrier. Dillon starts at U.S. Cellular
on June 1, and will replace retiring president and CEO John E. Rooney.
She will also join U.S. Cellular’s board.

Dillon, 48, was most recently global chief marketing officer at
Oakbrook-based McDonald’s. Before that, Dillon was president of the
Quaker foods division of PepsiCo Corp. Dillon is on the board of Target
Corp.

“Mary has the rich consumer marketing background and strong operational
experience to lead U.S. Cellular to superior long-term growth and
success,” said LeRoy T. Carlson, Jr., chairman of U.S. Cellular.

John “Jack” Rooney, who built U.S. Cellular into the nation’s sixth
largest wireless carrier, announced in February that he planned to step
down as CEO this year. Telephone and Data Systems Inc. owns 82 percent
of U.S. Cellular.