David Todd Kearns (August 11, 1930February 25, 2011) was an American businessman who was

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Xerox Corporation Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduction of the Xerox ...

and served as the first

United States Deputy Secretary of Education The deputy secretary of education oversees and manages the development of policies in the United States Department of Education. The deputy secretary focuses primarily on K–12 education policy, such as No Child Left Behind, the High School Init ...

from 1991 to 1993.

Early life and education

Kearns was born and raised in Rochester,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

where he met his future wife, Shirley Virginia Cox. He earned

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 1952, where he was a member of

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

Career

Kearns entered

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

flight school and was deployed to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

aboard the USS ''Coral Sea'' as an airman. Starting in 1954, Kearns worked at

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Xerox Corporation

In 1971, Kearns joined Xerox Corporation as vice president. He also served as head of U.S./Marketing and Service at Xerox in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, and later as vice president of foreign markets in Stamford,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. In 1977, he became Xerox president and COO, and was then promoted to CEO in 1982. In 1985, Kearns succeeded

Charles Peter McColough Charles Peter Philip Paul McColough (August 1, 1922 – December 13, 2006) was a Canadian-American businessman who served as the chief executive officer and chairman of the Xerox Corporation. He retired in the late 1980s, after serving over fourt ...

as chairman of Xerox.

U.S. Department of Education

Kearns was nominated by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

on March 22, 1991. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

confirmed him for the position on May 31, 1991. Following the

Rodney King Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was a Black American victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was severely beaten by Police officer, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during his arrest after a high spe ...

riots in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, George H. W. Bush appointed Kearns as

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

liaison to help resolve the conflict.George Bush Presidential Library & Museum (1992)
Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion With Leaders of the African-American Community in Los Angeles

Later career

Kearns left the Department of Education on January 20, 1993. He later joined the faculty of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

's Graduate School of Education where he taught for two years. Kearns has served on the board of trustees for the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

Dayton Hudson Target Corporation is an American retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and hypermarkets, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the United States, and a component of the ...

, and

Ryder Ryder System, Inc. is an American transportation and logistics company, specializing in truck rental and leasing, fleet management, supply chain management, and transportation management. It also offers full-service leasing, rental and maint ...

. He is also a former chairman of the

National Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

. Kearns was Chairman of New American Schools, an organization dedicated to excellence in American schools. New American Schools has since merged with the

American Institutes for Research The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan behavioral and social science research, evaluation, and technical assistance organization based in Arlington, Virginia. One of the world's largest social science research o ...

. The

established the David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity in Science and Engineering to expand the pool of individuals who pursue undergraduate and graduate careers in the sciences and engineering.

(2005)
David T. Kearns Center
. Kearns published several books including: ''Winning the Brain Race: A Bold Plan to Make Our Schools Competitive'' (1988), ''Prophets in the Dark: How Xerox Reinvented Itself and Beat Back the Japanese'' (1992), ''A Legacy of Learning'' (1999) and ''Crossing the Bridge: Family, Business, Education, Cancer, and the Lessons Learned'' (2005).

Personal life

Kearns and his wife, Shirley, had four daughters and two sons. They also had 18 grandchildren. Kearns lost his left eye to radiation treatment related to his cancer in 1993, prompting him to wear an eye patch for the rest of his life. Kearns died on February 25, 2011, at the age of 80 in

Vero Beach, Florida Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about south ...

, from complications related to sinus cancer.

Awards

*1990, elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

*1991, Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

presented by Awards Council member

Sol Linowitz Sol Myron Linowitz (December 7, 1913 – March 18, 2005) was an American diplomat, lawyer, and businessman. Early life Linowitz was born to a Jewish family in Trenton, New Jersey. He was a graduate of Trenton Central High School, Hamilton Co ...

*1992, elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

*1996, University of Rochester's Hutchison Medal in 1996, the highest honor for an alumnus/a *2008, Frederick Douglass Medal, awarded jointly by the University of Rochester and the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies

References

External links

David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity in Arts, Sciences and Engineering
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kearns, David T. 1930 births 2011 deaths Businesspeople from Rochester, New York University of Rochester alumni American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies American non-fiction writers Harvard University faculty IBM employees Xerox people United States deputy secretaries of education American chief operating officers 20th-century American businesspeople George H. W. Bush administration personnel Members of the American Philosophical Society