Motorola elected board member David Dorman, the former CEO of AT&T, as its new chairman effective May 5. Dorman replaces Ed Zander, who is retiring.

Dorman will need to lead Motorola through turbulent waters. The company recently announced that it’s splitting its handset and broadband businesses into separate companies, and also that new board members will include representatives for activist investor Carl Icahn.

Dorman has 28 years of management experience in the telecommunications industry. In addition to AT&T and his current role at Warburg Pincus and Company, he also worked for Pacific Bell and Sprint.

The change is significant, as Dorman’s background differs strongly from Zander. Zander came from the computer server business at companies like Data General and Sun Microsystems.