(Quality Digest: Chico, CA) -- Former Motorola Chairman and CEO Robert W. Galvin died on October 11, 2011, at the age of 89. Bob Galvin served the company for nearly 60 years and transformed it from a U.S. manufacturing company into a global technology giant, as well as one of the world’s most admired companies and recognized brands.

Galvin was the son of Motorola founder Paul Galvin. His first formal duty for the company was an address delivered at Motorola’s national distributors convention in Chicago in 1940, when he was just 17. He started working part-time later that year in the stock room. He joined the company full-time in 1944 and became company president in 1956. Upon his father’s death in 1959, Galvin assumed full leadership of Motorola and became CEO in 1964. On his watch Motorola became a leader in semiconductor, paging and cellular, as well as two-way radio and space communication technologies.

 …