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Tellabs CEO Rob Pullen dies of cancer
03 July 2012
Chairman announces that CEO Rob Pullen has died of colon cancer after 27 years with the company
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Tellabs
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Mike Birck, the chairman of Tellabs, has announced that CEO Rob Pullen died of cancer on July 2. He was only 50. Pullen, who joined the company in 1985 as an electrical engineer, had been CEO since February 2008.
“It is my sad duty to inform you that Tellabs CEO Rob Pullen has lost his battle with cancer. He passed away today,” said Birck in a letter to employees, customers and shareholders. “We extend our sympathies to Rob's wife Dawn, his children Brittany and Brendan, and his family.”
Pullen announced that he had cancer in April, and Tellabs later appointed Dan Kelly to be acting president and CEO. He will continue to lead Tellabs, said Birck, though he did not give any information about whether that would be permanent.
Kelly was executive vice president of global products at Tellabs before taking on the acting CEO role.
Global Telecoms Business named Pullen as one of the Power 100 — the 100 most powerful people in the telecoms industry — in September 2011. GTB
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