(Crain's) — Robert Galvin, a former CEO of Motorola Inc. and son of the company's founder, died Tuesday.
Mr. Galvin, 89, was an innovator in the mobile phone sector, overseeing Motorola as it introduced the first compact cellphone in 1989 and the first pocket-sized flip phone in 1996.
Mr. Galvin became CEO of Motorola in 1959, taking over after the death of his father, Paul Galvin.
He stepped down as CEO in 1988 and remained the company's chairman until 1990. When he retired from Motorola's board in 2001, he had been with the company for nearly six decades.
Under his leadership, Schaumburg-based Motorola's annual sales grew to $10.8 billion from $290 million. He is also credited with making Motorola an international company, bringing the firm into China long before most of its domestic counterparts.
"We lost one of the all-time greats in Bob Galvin," Greg Brown, CEO of Schaumburg-based Motorola Solutions Inc., said in an interview. "He was humble, thoughtful, kind. He saw the art of the possible where others didn't and thought globally very early on. He inspired people."
Motorola earlier this year split into two public companies: Motorola Solutions Inc., focusing on emergency radio equipment and set-top television boxes, and Motorola Mobility Inc., specializing in mobile devices. In August, Google Inc. announced it was buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.
"Bob's commitment to innovation has remained a core value at Motorola Mobility and his contributions have left a lasting mark on both the Motorola Mobility portfolio and the entire cell phone industry," Motorola Mobility said in a statement.
Mr. Galvin also was known for innovation in quality control, leading the creation of the Six Sigma standards used by many large companies. He won the first Malcolm Baldrige national quality award in 1988.
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