Kyle C. Ranson is an American businessman who was the president and

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 ...

of InFocus from August 2004 to May 2007. At the time, InFocus was headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. Kyle was originally hired as the executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing in April 2003, and previously held the same title at Compaq/

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

. He also held positions at Newberry Data and Vickers Defense.

Career

Ranson gained experience with

projectors A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer types ...

at his position with Compaq, where he helped the company get into the projector market. Ranson was hired by InFocus to concentrate more on product marketing in the digital projector market, instead of previous emphasis on innovation. At the time, company Chairman John Harker expressed the hope that Ranson's international experience and market understanding would help drive the company back to profitability. In August 2004, InFocus announced that Ranson (then president and chief operation officer) would be the next CEO and a member of the board of directors, replacing

John Harker John V. Harker is the former chairman of the InFocus corporation located in Wilsonville, Oregon. He had been the president and CEO of the company since 1992 before Kyle Ranson took his place on September 1, 2004. He resigned as chairman on Dec ...

who had led the company since 1992. Harker would continue in the role of

chairman 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 grou ...

. On 16 May 2007, InFocus announced that Ranson would leave the company to pursue other interests. He also resigned from the company's board of directors.

Later career

In 2008, Ranson invested in Showers Pass, a company founded by Dave Morrow in 1997 and purchased by Ed Dalton in 2005, becoming co-president. Ranson had met Dalton on a cycling tour of Oregon. In 2012, Dalton sold out to Ranson. The company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with Ranson as the CEO. In May 2013, the company established a United Kingdom office, with Ranson's brother Fraser Ranson joining the company as head of UK operations.

Personal life

Ranson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and graduated from Brunel University in 1985 with a BA in design and technology. He has been a trustee of the Oregon chapter of the National

Multiple Sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

Society and has taken part in fundraising bike rides with Bikes MS150. In 2015, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society announced that Showers Pass would provide an annual sponsorship to improve life for those suffering from MS and contribute to the search for a cure.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranson, C. Kyle American chief executives of manufacturing companies Alumni of Brunel University London Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Oregon