ARLINGTON, VA (July 2, 2012) – TIA mourns the loss of Tellabs CEO Rob Pullen, who died Monday morning, July 2, 2012, of colon cancer. Pullen, who was 50, was one of the major figures of the U.S. telecom industry, leading Tellabs for the last four years and serving as chairman emeritus and executive board member for the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
“The industry has lost a great innovator with the passing of Rob Pullen. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family, Dawn, Brittany, Brendan, during this difficult time,” said TIA president Grant Seiffert. “Rob’s leadership and relentless commitment to progress and innovation has helped make the ICT industry what it is today—and will forever influence what it will become.”
Seiffert continued by saying, “Rob will be missed by so many. He was a gentleman, a competitor and fiercely loyal to Tellabs, his employees and customers. TIA is grateful for his dedicated service for so many years. It has been an honor to know Rob and to work for him, to learn and follow him. He is one of a kind.”
Pullen started his career at Tellabs in 1985 straight out of college as an engineer, climbing to the top of the company hierarchy. He took over as CEO in 2008 from Krish Prabhu and was responsible for Tellabs’ transformation from a company focused on older telephony to one specializing in new optical routing and mobile backhaul products.
Under Pullen’s leadership, Tellabs expanded beyond its core North American market and into developing markets in Latin America and Asia. Those new markets now account for half of Tellabs revenues, according to the company.
More at tiaonline.org