Robert William "Bob" Galvin (October 9, 1922 – October 11, 2011) was an American executive. He was the son of the founder of

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

, Paul Galvin, and served as the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

from 1959 to 1986.

Motorola career

Born in

Marshfield, Wisconsin Marshfield is a city in northwest Wood and southwest Marathon counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 10, Highway 13 and Highway 97. The largest city in Wood County, its population was 18,929 at t ...

, Galvin went to work for

in 1940. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1944. In 1956 he was named the president of the company. Two years later he succeeded his father as a

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

. In 1986, Bob Galvin gave up the title of CEO while remaining

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

. Under his leadership,

sales had grown from $216.6 million in 1958 to $6.7 billion in 1987 and

cash flow A cash flow is a real or virtual movement of money: *a cash flow in its narrow sense is a payment (in a currency), especially from one central bank account to another; the term 'cash flow' is mostly used to describe payments that are expected ...

per share had grown from 89 cents to $6.10. Bob Galvin also was instrumental, along with Dr. Mikel J Harry and

engineer Bill Smith, in implementing the Six Sigma

quality system A quality management system (QMS) is a collection of business processes focused on consistently meeting customer requirements and enhancing their satisfaction. It is aligned with an organization's purpose and strategic direction (ISO 9001:2015). I ...

at Motorola. As a result of the Six Sigma program, Motorola received the first

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the highest formal recognition of the performance excellen ...

in 1988, which is given by the President of the United States. Later, the Six Sigma processes subsequently were adopted at the General Electric Corporation. Jack Welch said: " Six Sigma changed the DNA of GE." The Six Sigma process requires 99.99967% error free processes and products, or 3.4 parts per million defects or less.

Other initiatives

In 2005, Galvin created the Galvin Electricity Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the electrical grid so that it meets with Six Sigma standards of quality. Along with his two sons

Christopher Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

and Michael, Galvin recently started a real estate investment firm, Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, named for the street where his father and uncle started Motorola (originally named "Galvin Manufacturing").

Awards

Galvin was a longtime supporter of

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

and became a trustee in 1953. He served as chairman from 1979 to 1990 and sat on three steering bodies on the future of IIT, in 1975, 1985, and as chairman in 1993. At the time of his death, he served as a University Regent. In 1990, IIT presented Galvin with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and in 1996, he received the university's Henry Heald Award. IIT dedicated the Paul V. Galvin Library in 1985 to recognize the Galvin family's commitment to the institution. In 1985, Galvin received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. In 1991, Galvin was inducted into Junior Achievement's U.S. Business Hall of Fame. In 1993, he received the Bower Award in Business Leadership. In 2000 he was awarded the IEEE Founder's Medal for "For his distinguished leadership in promoting quality, technological excellence and' cooperation between government and the private sector, and expanding the applications of electronics and communications technology globally." In 2005, he was awarded the

Vannevar Bush Award The National Science Board established the Vannevar Bush Award ( ) in 1980 to honor Vannevar Bush's unique contributions to public service. The annual award recognizes an individual who, through public service activities in science and technolog ...

for "his visionary leadership to enhance U.S. innovation, competitiveness, and excellence at the interface of science and technology with the Nation's industrial enterprise. In the counsels of government, industry, and academe, he unselfishly gave the Nation the benefit of his knowledge, experience, and creative wisdom while leading his company in its great contribution to the computing and telecommunications transformation of society." In 1995, he received the

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the int ...

"Making History Award" for Distinction in Civic Leadership.

Personal life

Galvin lived in

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County and Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area features wetlands, forest preserves, parks, and horse trails in a country-s ...

with his wife, Mary Barnes Galvin. Together they have four children and thirteen grandchildren. Galvin, who was a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, died in October 2011 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Bibliography

* America's Founding Secret: What the Scottish Enlightenment Taught Our Founding Fathers (2002) * Perfect Power: How the Microgrid Revolution Will Unleash Cleaner, Greener, and More Abundant Energy (2008)

References

External links

Bob Galvin biography in the Business Hall of Fame

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galvin, Bob Esponge Motorola employees American chief executives University of Notre Dame alumni 1922 births National Medal of Technology recipients People from Marshfield, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Illinois Businesspeople from Wisconsin 2011 deaths Evanston Township High School alumni 20th-century American businesspeople