Michael J. Birck (January 25, 1938 – July 6, 2015) was a co-founder and chairman of Tellabs Inc. He began his career at

Bell Telephone Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

, and helped found Tellabs in 1975. He was the CEO of the company from 2002 to 2004. He was a member of the Alumni Association at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

Biography

Birck was born January 25, 1938, in

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

, and grew up in

Clinton, Indiana Clinton is a city in Clinton Township, Vermillion County, Indiana, Clinton Township, Vermillion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,893 at the 2010 census. History The city was established in 1829 and is named for DeWitt Clint ...

. He received a BSEE degree at

in 1960 and an MSEE degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1962. Birck began his career on the technical staff at

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

’s

. He went on to manage the Transmission System Design Department at Continental Telephone Laboratories. He was director of engineering at Wescom Inc. from 1968 to 1975. Birck and five other electrical engineers and salesmen came up with the idea for Tellabs in 1975. He was Chief Executive Officer of Tellabs from 2002 to 2004. Birck died on July 6, 2015 at the age of 77.

Sports endeavors

Birck came to the public's attention in 1999 when the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

football team appeared to be up for sale. A radio show host on

WSCR WSCR (670 AM radio, AM) – branded 670 The Score – is a Commercial radio, commercial sports radio station, licensed to Chicago, Illinois, which serves the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WSCR is a clear-channel station wit ...

made the suggestion that Birck should buy the team. Birck told the Chicago Sun-Times: "It was kind of amusing. Some guy on The Score said, 'How about that Mike Birck guy? He ought to be able to buy the Bears.'" Birck decided not to buy the team. Birck was pitcher at Purdue University. He funded the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, named after him by Purdue University, and donated $5 million to the renovation of the University’s Mackey Arena in 2008. Birck has also made contributions to Purdue University,

Benedictine University Benedictine University is a Private university, private Catholic Colleges in the United States, Catholic university with campuses in Lisle, Illinois, and Mesa, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 1887 by the Benedictine monks of St. Proco ...

, Loyola University, and Hinsdale Hospital, among others.

Academic endeavors

Birck is past chairman of the Purdue Alumni Foundation Board and is a trustee of Purdue University. He was a director at the Purdue Research Foundation and was on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the

Krannert School of Management The Purdue University Daniels School of Business (formerly known as Krannert School of Management) is the school of business at Purdue University, a Public university, public research university in West Lafayette, Indiana. It offers instruction ...

. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Benedictine University and of the

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public secondary education institution in Aurora, Illinois, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students. Enrollment is generally offered to in ...

Fund Board.

Honors

He was inducted into the Chicago Business Hall of Fame in 1998 and received the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He was honored as a 2001 recipient of the

IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership Recognition Through its awards program, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers recognizes contributions that advance the fields of interest to the IEEE. For nearly a century, the IEEE Awards Program has paid tribute to technical professionals w ...

award. In 2003, the

Electronic Industries Alliance The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA; until 1997 Electronic Industries Association) was an American standards organization, standards and trade organization composed as an alliance of trade associations for electronics manufacturers in the ...

presented him with the Medal of Honor Award for his achievements and leadership in the U.S. telecommunications industry. Purdue and Benedictine University have awarded him honorary doctorate degrees. He received the Illinois High Tech Entrepreneur award from Peat Marwick and Mitchell/ Crain’s Chicago Business in 1984 and the Outstanding Master Entrepreneur award by

Inc. Magazine ''Inc.'' is an American business media company founded in 1979 and based in New York City. ''Inc.'' publishes several print magazine issues per year, and is anchored by journalistic content online and on social media, focused on entrepreneurship a ...

and

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in 1995.

References

External links

Tellabs biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birck, Michael 1938 births 2015 deaths American chairpersons of corporations American technology company founders People from Missoula, Montana People from Clinton, Indiana Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Purdue University College of Engineering alumni