Garry Betty

Charles Garrett "Garry" Betty was President and CEO of EarthLink, a large American Internet service provider, from 1996 until his death. During his leadership of EarthLink, Betty grew the customer base from just under 100,000 members to over 5,000,000.

Early life and education

Betty was born in Huntsville, Alabama and grew up in Columbus, Georgia. Betty graduated from Columbus [High School |Columbus High School] in 1975 He then attended the Georgia [Institute of Technology] in Atlanta, Georgia where he received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1979.

Career

Betty worked for IBM, and received the IBM President's Award in 1982 for his work on the original IBM PC.
Betty subsequently became president and CEO of Digital Communications Associates and for some time he was the New York Stock Exchange's youngest listed CEO.

Awards

Betty received Young Alumnus of the Year honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1993 and was inducted into the Georgia Technology Hall of Fame in 2005.

Cancer diagnosis and death

EarthLink reported in a press release on November 21, 2006 that Betty had been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer which required him to take an undetermined leave of absence. The company announced that the Board of Directors named Mike Lunsford, Vice-President of Voice and Access, as interim CEO. EarthLink announced on January 3, 2007, that Betty had died at the age of 49 from complications of adrenal cortical cancer.