Kenneth Simonds
Kenneth Wayne Simonds | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date |
| Died | October 11, 2009 (aged 74) Indian Wells, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, benefactor |
| Years active | 1958–2000s |
| Known for | Leadership roles at IBM, Amdahl Corporation, Teradata; founder of Practice Tee Corporation; philanthropy |
Kenneth Wayne Simonds (May 5, 1935 – October 11, 2009) was a prominent American entrepreneur and benefactor.
Life
Simonds launched his professional journey in 1958 at IBM, where he earned distinction as the youngest manager when assigned to Green Bay, Wisconsin. He departed IBM in 1975 to take on the role of vice president for Western operations at Amdahl Corporation. His career progressed with promotions to Vice President of Product Support and Services in 1976, Senior Vice President of U.S. Operations in 1979, and ultimately Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer by 1981. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in expanding Amdahl’s revenue from inception in 1975 to $800 million by 1984. After a brief retirement in 1984, Simonds accepted the position of chief executive officer at Teradata in 1985. Under his leadership, Teradata completed its initial public offering in 1987 and was acquired by NCR Corporation in 1991 for $250 million. He retired soon after this acquisition.
1935-1975
Born on May 5, 1935, to Pauline and Wayne Simonds, Kenneth attended Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee, graduating in 1953 where he was active in football and track. Initially enrolling at George Washington University on a football scholarship, he later transferred to East Tennessee State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business by 1957. That same year, he met Sarah "Sally" Simonds during IBM training sessions; they married the following year in Columbus, Ohio. The couple had five children: Robert, Cindy, David, Joe, and Kenneth Jr. In 1975, the family moved to Los Altos, California. Robert entered the technology sector by joining Amdahl in 1985.
1980-2009 and beyond
During the mid-1980s, the Simonds family relocated to Manhattan Beach, California. After stepping down from Teradata, Kenneth settled permanently in Indian Wells, California, in 1993. He contributed as an assistant football coach at Palm Desert High School during the 1999-2000 academic year. Kenneth Simonds passed away on October 11, 2009, at his residence in Indian Wells; his funeral services were conducted at Southwest Church in Palm Desert. In tribute to his legacy, Sarah donated one million dollars in his memory in 2015 to support the construction of East Tennessee State University’s football stadium—a project he had long championed. Since his passing, she has continued to make substantial donations to charitable organizations that were important to him.
Interest in the golf industry
In 1988, Simonds established Practice Tee Corporation, which developed three golf practice facilities and courses. He sold this enterprise in 1996 to Family Golf Centers, a publicly traded company. The following year, he launched The Golf Center located in Palm Desert. The Simonds family managed these venues until the mid-2000s before transferring ownership to The First Tee, which remains responsible for operating the Palm Desert site.
Awards and legacy
Simonds was honored with the "Spirit of Life" Award by City of Hope Medical Center in 1981 and was recognized as a finalist for Southern California Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989. East Tennessee State University named him Outstanding Alumnus in 2000. He actively pursued the revival of ETSU’s football program and was prepared to make a significant financial commitment toward this effort in 2007; however, those plans did not come to fruition. In 2008, both he and his wife received the Outstanding Community Leader Award from the College of the Desert Alumni Foundation. Following his death, Simonds was posthumously inducted into the Dobyns-Bennett Alumni Hall of Fame that same year. The Kenneth W. Simonds Athletic Performance Center at College of the Desert was inaugurated in 2011. In recognition of their philanthropic efforts toward ETSU, he and his wife were awarded the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Philanthropy by the Tennessee Board of Regents in 2015. That year also saw his family honored with a football signed by ETSU players and commemorated with donor plaques displayed outside ETSU’s new stadium alongside other benefactors.
See also
- The Legend of Amdahl authored by Jeffrey L. Rodengen (ISBN 9780945903192)