Walter Fallon, Eastman Kodak CEO, 84

[DGH]

.

Walter A. Fallon, a tough-minded chief executive at Eastman Kodak Co.
who oversaw a tripling of sales while at the helm of the world's biggest
photography company from 1972 to 1983, died at his home, in the
Rochester, New York, suburb of Irondequoit, New York, Wednesday, July
24, 2002, at the age of 84, the cause of death not being disclosed.

During the Fallon era, Kodak introduced Ektaprint office copiers,
Ektachem blood analyzers and disk cameras, selling tens of millions of
the moderately priced cameras before they lost ground to 35mm models in
the 1980s.

Under his tenure, Kodak also was sued by Polaroid Corp., which claimed
its patents for instant photography had been infringed. Polaroid
eventually won that lawsuit, with Kodak paying its rival $925 million in
1991.

Fallon, a chemist, joined Kodak in 1941, where gradually ascended into
the ranks of senior executives and became chief executive and president
in May 1972.

He added the title of chairman in 1977 and retained all three posts
until his retirement in July 1983. He was succeeded as CEO Colby
Chandler.

Kodak's sales swelled from $3.48 billion at the end of 1972 to $10.8
billion in 1982, and its work force jumped from 114,800 to 136,500
employees. Months before his departure in 1983, Kodak's hometown payroll
peaked at 60,400 employees. Today, it has fallen below 24,000.

"I deeply mourn the passing of a great leader," Kodak's current CEO, Dan
Carp, said Thursday. "Walt built much of the foundation for the success
of Kodak. He had a vision of the world as a single marketplace."

A native of Schenectady, New York, Fallon earned a chemistry degree from
Union College and a master of science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute.

[Kentucky Wizard]

"DGH" <peri...@eudoramail.com> wrote in message
news:3D41F758...@eudoramail.com...

I wonder if his death was a "Kodak Moment"

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The Kentucky Wizard

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