George Kozmetsky

Biography

George Kozmetsky was born in Seattle on October 5th, 1917 to Russian immigrant parents and graduated from the University of Washington at the age of 20 and subsequently served in the Army Medical Corps during World War II. He then earned an M.B.A. and doctorate in commercial science from Harvard. His academic career included teaching positions at Harvard University and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

In 1952, he joined the Hughes Aircraft Company, where he spent three years before moving to Litton. Teledyne, his best-known business venture, was started in 1960 as a $550,000 joint investment with Henry E. Singleton, a colleague from Litton Industries, then a small electronics company. With Dr. Kozmetsky as executive vice president, Teledyne grew into a conglomerate of some 130 companies, making everything from stereo speakers to airplane parts. After six years at Teledyne, Dr. Kozmetsky left to become dean of the business school at the University of Texas at Austin, a position he held for 16 years. At the University of Texas he also served as the executive associate for economic affairs. In 1977, Dr. Kozmetsky founded the IC2 Institute, a center for technology entrepreneurship and research. Over the years, more than 100 technology companies received Dr. Kozmetsky's assistance in their development, and he served on the boards of Dell, Gulf, Heizer and La Quinta, among others.

In 1993, Kozmetsky was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Bill Clinton.

Kozmetsky died on April 30th, 2003.