Passing of Rob Pullen- flood of memories of many Tellabs stories

Rob Pullen, a good friend and colleague, passed away today. Along with Joe Catalano and Pettite, Rob is another Tellabs friend who died young. We miss you, Rob and Joe and Pettite.


Print Story: "Rob Pullen, CEO of Tellabs and a major force in the company’s digital systems innovations and overseas expansion, died Monday.

Mr. Pullen, 50, had been battling cancer.

Naperville-based Tellabs is a telecommunications equipment maker.

Mr. Pullen, a native of Park Ridge, had disclosed in April that he had colon cancer. Last week, while Mr. Pullen was in the hospital, the Tellabs board of directors appointed Dan Kelly, an executive vice president, as acting president and CEO.

Tellabs Chairman and founder Michael Birck told employees and shareholders in a letter Monday that “no words can describe the grief I feel right now.”

Birck said he considered it an honor to have worked with Mr. Pullen for 30 years at Tellabs.

Birck, 74, said Mr. Pullen was a visionary, a hard worker and an “organized thinker” who played major roles in conceptualizing Tellabs’ multi-million-dollar digital cross-connect product used by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and other leading telecommunications companies."

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