Mark C. Smith (September 10, 1940 – March 27, 2007) was the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

ADTRAN Adtran, Inc. is a leading global provider of open, disaggregated networking and communications solutions. Adtran Is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. The company is ISO 9001 and TL9000, ISO 14001, and ISO 27001 certified. History ADTRAN ...

Early life and education

While still in high school, Smith won a science fair at age 16 and met renowned rocket scientist

Wernher Von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

. He received an electrical engineering degree from

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

in 1962.

Career

Mark C. Smith moved to Huntsville, where he founded two successful companies, the earlier being modem manufacturer Universal Data Systems in 1969. Smith went on to co-found

in 1986 with Lonnie S. McMillian. As of 2007 the company had a market-cap of $1.7 billion. Smith retired from ADTRAN in September 2005.

Death and legacy

Mark Smith and his wife Linda were known for their

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

support of causes in the Huntsville area including the

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social science ...

and the

Huntsville Symphony Orchestra The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra is a symphonic orchestra located in Huntsville, Alabama. The current conductor and music director is Gregory Vajda. Vajda has been the conductor since the 2011-2012 season. The orchestra's resident conductor is J ...

. He died in 2007 due to complications from pneumonia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mark C. 1940 births 2007 deaths American chief executives Businesspeople from Birmingham, Alabama Georgia Tech alumni 20th-century American businesspeople