Obituary

Frank Cary, former IBM Chairman, dies
01/04/2006

Frank T. Cary, who served IBM for 35 years including 10 as its chairman, died Sunday, Jan. 1.

Following the legacies of Watson Sr. and Watson Jr., who ran IBM for almost 60 years, was no easy feat, but Frank more than proved his mettle. Under his direction, IBM expanded into new markets outside its traditional mainframe business into personal computers, graphic terminals and information technology consulting.

Frank was behind one of IBM?s more stirring examples leadership in the area of Equal Opportunity. In 1975, Frank, Rev. Leon Sullivan, a General Motors board member, and General Motors CEO Tom Murphy recruited 21 leaders from top American corporations to attend a historic meeting at IBM's Sands Point, N.Y., conference center to launch a decade-long effort by U.S. corporations to end apartheid in South Africa. This historic meeting led to the creation of the original Sullivan Principles, a set of stringent guidelines for U.S. businesses in South Africa which sought to increase the freedoms of Black South Africans in both the workplace and the community. IBM and other companies adopted these guidelines. When South Africa failed to respond, Sullivan asked U.S. businesses to leave, and IBM was one of 70 companies to withdraw their presence by 1988. Within five years, apartheid ended, Black citizens gained the right to vote, and Nelson Mandela was elected president. IBM was one of the first companies to return to South Africa and the first company in our industry to appoint a Black General Manager.

Frank joined IBM in 1948 as a marketing representative in Los Angeles. He subsequently held a number of management positions and was named president of the Data Processing Division in 1964. In 1966, he was named vice president and group executive and general manager of the Data Processing Group. He became a senior vice president in 1967 and joined the board of directors the following year. In 1969, he joined the Corporate Office and became a member of the Management Review Committee. He was elected executive vice president and a member of the executive committee in March 1971 and president in June of the same year.

Frank was IBM's chief executive officer from January 1973 through January 1981, and chairman of the board from January 1973 through February 1983. After stepping down as chairman and chief executive officer, Frank remained a director of the company until 1991.