David Kearns, ex-Xerox CEO, moves back here

Andrea Deckert//November 2, 2007//

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David Kearns, the former head of Xerox Corp., has returned to his roots-and the company’s-moving back to the Rochester area.
Kearns, who last month was inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame, moved last weekend to a newly built home in Pittsford with his wife of 53 years, Shirley. The couple had lived in New Canaan, Conn., for the past 31 years.
Kearns, 77, is well-known for promoting diversity in the workplace and is an advocate for providing quality education for all Americans. Many have said the businessman is an example of social responsibility.
At a presentation this week at the University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business, Xerox chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy described Kearns, who attended, as “a Xerox hero, a national hero and my personal hero.”
Kearns said his adult children played a role in the couple’s decision to move here. He and his wife have six children and 18 grandchildren.
“They said we ought to sell the house and find something smaller while we still know what we’re doing,” Kearns said with a laugh.
They now live close to their oldest daughter, who resides in Victor.
Although he has not lived in the area for more than three decades, Kearns said he has visited often over the years and has many friends here. Xerox moved its corporate headquarters from Rochester to Connecticut in 1969.
Kearns, a sinus cancer survivor who is legally blind, said he plans to focus a big chunk of his time on writing articles related to education and its need for reform. He will continue to take a college student into his household for a year who serves as his assistant and helps with his writing.
He has published books, including: “Winning the Brain Race,” “A Legacy of Learning” and “Crossing the Bridge: Family, Business, Education, Cancer, and the Lessons Learned.”
He also plans to get “somewhat involved” at UR, where he is a lifetime member of the board of trustees.
A graduate of Brighton High School and UR, Kearns was in the U.S. Navy and then worked at IBM Corp. in various roles, including serving as the company’s vice president of data processing.
After two years at IBM, he joined Xerox in 1971 and became the document company’s president and chief operating officer in 1977.
Kearns is best known for his role as CEO at Xerox from 1982 until he stepped down at age 60 in 1990. He also served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 1991 until 1993 and as a member of the faculty of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Education.
As CEO of Xerox, Kearns encouraged diversity and the development of black business leaders. His encouragement inspired the creation of the David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity in Science and Engineering at UR, which supports minority students in getting their master’s degrees in the sciences.
While he said he is “very fond” of Xerox, Kearns has no plans to get involved with the company, noting his retirement.
He described Mulcahy as outstanding and said he is cautiously optimistic about the company’s future.
“I’ve got my fingers crossed,” he said.
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