Charles Hugel was president and chief executive officer of the Ohio Bell Telephone Company from 1975 to 1978. He joined New Jersey Bell in 1952, after graduating from Lafayette College. In 1978, he was named an executive vice president of AT&T in New York. He later became president and then chairman of Connecticut-based Combustion Engineering, retiring from the company in 1991. Hugel chaired the 1978 United Way of Greater Cleveland campaign and served as vice chair of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association and on the board of Cleveland Clinic.