'Charles Garrett "Garry" Betty' (
4 March 1957 –
2 January 2007) was President and CEO of
EarthLink, a large American
Internet service provider, from 1996 until his death.
Betty was born in
Huntsville, Alabama and grew up in
Columbus, Georgia. He attended the
Georgia Institute of Technology in
Atlanta, Georgia where he received a bachelor's degree in
chemical engineering in 1979. After that he worked for
IBM, and received the IBM President's award in 1982 for his work on the original IBM PC.
[1] Betty subsequently became president and CEO of
Digital Communications Associates and for some time he was the
New York Stock Exchange's youngest listed CEO. Betty also received Young Alumnus of the Year honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1993 and was inducted into the
Georgia Technology Hall of Fame in 2005.
EarthLink reported in a
press release on
21 November 2006 (also reported by major news agencies like the
Wall Street Journal) that Betty had been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer which required him to take an undetermined leave of absence. The company announced that the
Board of Directors named
Mike Lunsford, Vice-President of Voice and Access, as interim CEO.
[2] EarthLink announced on
3 January 2007 that Betty had died at the age of 49 from complications of
adrenal cortical cancer.
[3]
Prior to his death, Betty set up
The Garry Betty Foundation, a
non-profit organization dedicated to funding research into the
genetic mutations that may lead to cancer.
References
1. Garry Betty, C.E.O. of EarthLink, Dies at 49
2. EarthLink: Illness Drives Leader Shuffle Bob Keefe
3. EarthLink's Garry Betty Passes Away
External links
★
Official biography
★
Treatment blog
★
Tribute blog
★
The Garry Betty Foundation