Gary Burrell
American electrical engineer, businessman, and philanthropist
Gary Leon Burrell (August 24, 1937 – June 12, 2019) was an American electrical engineer, businessman, and philanthropist. He was the co-founder, with Min Kao, and chairman emeritus of Garmin, makers of popular Global Positioning System devices.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Gary Burrell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Aug 24, 1937, died Jun 12, 2019.1
Companies
- Garmin GroupChief executive officer 1989 to now11
- Garmin GroupFounder11
Early life and education
Gary Burrell was born in 1937. He earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Wichita State University and a master's degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gary Burrell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: businessperson.7
- Since 1989Chief executive, Garmin Group5
- Since 1989Chief executive officer6
- Date not recordedFounded Garmin Group4
Burrell worked for Lowrance Electronics and King Radio Corporation. In the early 1980s, he worked for Allied Signal.
Along with partner Min Kao, Burrell founded Garmin in 1989 to make navigation devices for aviation and boating using the Global Positioning System. Their original office was two folding chairs and a card table. Some U.S. servicemen used Garmin GPS during the first Gulf War, even though Garmin never had a military contract. Later on, the technology was expanded for the U.S. market, providing directions across all United States roads and highways.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gary Burrell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Personal life
Burrell was married and had three children. He resided in Spring Hill, Kansas. As of 2016, Burrell was a billionaire. He died on June 12, 2019 at the age of 81 from complications of Parkinson's disease.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gary Burrell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Philanthropy
Burrell was a significant donor to the Indian Creek Community Church in Olathe, Kansas.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gary Burrell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataGary Burrell on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaGary Burrell on Wikipedia
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- 12Wikimedia CommonsGary Burrell photo by Kurtwfan13, CC0