Rod Canion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph Rodney Canion (born January 19, 1945) is an American computer scientist and businessman. Canion is a co-founder and was a CEO of Compaq Computer Corporation.

A native of Houston, Canion graduated from the University of Houston in 1966 and 1968 with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in electrical engineering with an emphasis on computer science. Before co-founding Compaq Canion worked at Texas Instruments.

During Canion's tenure as Compaq's CEO, the company set records for the largest first-year sales in the history of American business and reached the Fortune 500 and the $1 billion revenue mark faster than any other company in history. In 1991, Canion was dismissed by Compaq's chairman, Ben Rosen.

In 1992, Canion founded Insource Technology Group with Ronald L. Fischer and served as its chairman until September 2006. In 1999, he led the initial investment round for Questia Media, Inc., which provides an online research library. He became chairman of the board and later helped the company raise $150 million. He is a member of the Board of Directors of AMVESCAP, BlueArc, and Young Life Metro, is Chairman of the Houston Technology Center, and is a member of the Board of Advisors for Sternhill Partners. He also serves on the board of HealthLink, a spin-off of Insource Technology that specializes in healthcare consulting.

Canion is the father of Candy, Scott, and Noelle.