ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300062
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DALLAS
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jerry Junkins, who became chief executive officer of Texas Instruments Inc. 11 years ago and reshaped it in the face of global competition and military cutbacks, died Wednesday of a heart attack during a business trip in Europe. He was 58.
Junkins spent his entire career at the huge electronics and defense firm, rising from parts clerk to CEO in 1985 and chairman in 1988.
``He has had an enormous impact not only on our industry, but on all of those of us who have known him,'' said Norman Augustine, chief executive of Lockheed Martin, a friend for 25 years.
Vice chairmen William ``Pat'' Weber and William B. Mitchell will oversee day-to-day operations at Texas Instruments for the time being, the company said.
Junkins took over the company during a period of declining sales and losses because of international competition in computer chips. After a successful turnaround, more trouble came as the United States sharply cut military spending, provoking further losses at TI in 1990 and 1991.
Junkins simultaneously scaled back defense manufacturing, eliminating about 20,000 of 78,000 jobs, and increased Texas Instruments' overall sales during that period. The company returned to profitability in 1992 and has grown sharply since with a boom in computer chip demand.
``Jerry took over TI at a very difficult time and, through a very steady and straightforward leadership style, rejuvenated it,'' said Andy Grove, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., the largest computer chip firm. ``I had great respect for him and held him in the highest regard.''
During Junkins' tenure, TI's annual sales doubled from about $6 billion to more than $13 billion. It is the world's seventh-largest maker of computer chips.
Its stock price, which traded as low as $15 in 1991, jumped to more than $90 last year but has declined since because of a rapid drop in memory chip prices. Wednesday, its shares were down $1 to $53.621/2 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Junkins had been traveling by car on a business trip in Stuttgart, Germany, when he had the heart attack about midday. He was taken to a hospital by his traveling companions.
``He was in Europe to meet with customers and employees of our European operations,'' said company spokeswoman Terri West. She said he had no history of heart trouble.
Junkins brought a more relaxed style to the top job at Texas Instruments than his immediate predecessors J. Fred Bucy and Mark Shepherd. But he faced criticism during the lean times for relying on other factors besides seniority in determining job cuts.
Though he participated on several local boards, Junkins' personal life was low-key. When interviewed for a ``high profile'' article by a Dallas newspaper in 1993, Junkins quipped, ``Can't we change the name of this and call it `low profile' instead?''
Junkins grew up in Montrose, Iowa, a Mississippi River town of a few hundred people. After graduating from Iowa State University in electrical engineering, he joined Texas Instruments in 1959 and pushed a parts cart around one of its manufacturing plants in Dallas.
Two years later, he began supervising an assembly area. By 1973, he was leading the company's radar division and, two years later, was manager of its Equipment Group, as TI's defense business was then called.
Junkins became president and chief executive when J. Fred Bucy resigned. Junkins was also a trustee at Southern Methodist University and a director at Caterpillar, Procter & Gamble and 3M.
He is survived by his widow Sally and two daughters, a son-in-law and granddaughter.
AP-DS-05-29-96 1521E
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Jerry Junkins. Began as parts clerk. (headshot) KEYWORDS: NEWS OBITSby CNB