Galvin RobertW

American business executive credited with turning Motorola, Inc. from a family business to a world-wide competitive electronics company. He joined the family business as a stock clerk in 1940. His upward climb to the CEOs position in the late 1950s was interrupted only by his military service during WWII. Galvin was an only child; his father and uncle owned a manufacturing company in Chicago. His mother was tragically killed in the family home by burglars in 1942. In 1944, the family took the company public as a remedy against an inheritance tax burden, with Galvin being named a director in 1945. In 1947 the company changed its name to Motorola, Inc. Galvin became President in 1956; after his dad died three years later, Galvin became added CEO to his title. He ran the company until 1990 when he stepped down from the CEOs position; he remained on the board of directors. He married in 1942 and had four children. One of his sons succeeded him in heading Motorola. He died on October 11, 2011 in Chicago. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less