Dick Green, who has spent the last 20 years as the first and only CEO of CableLabs, will retire when his current contract expires in December 2009, the cable technology consortium announced Thursday.
Green informed the CableLabs executive committee last week in New York of his decision, according to the organization, which noted that it has initiated a search for his successor “in order to complete an orderly transition.”
“The entire industry is indebted to Dick for building and managing one of the most successful development laboratories in the country,” Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast and chairman of CableLabs, said in a statement.
CableLabs, based in Louisville, Colo., was founded in 1988 by cable operators, and is officially known as Cable Television Laboratories. The group is a non-profit research and development consortium whose major achievements include development of the DOCSIS standards that underlie the industry’s broadband services.
Before joining CableLabs, Green worked for three major television networks: PBS, CBS, and ABC. He had been senior vice president of broadcast operations and engineering at PBS, where his contributions included construction of national network origination and transmission facilities. He also managed ABC's videotape post-production department and has done basic research in laser technology for the Hughes Aircraft Co.
Green also helped organize and establish the Advanced Television Systems Committee, and chaired the committee that eventually developed CCIR (now ITU-R) Recommendation 601, a worldwide television standard for digital signals. Currently, he is vice chairman of SG9, an ITU-T committee charged with the responsibility of recommending worldwide standards for cable television.
In 1999, Green received the Vanguard Award, the cable industry's highest award, for his achievements in technological development.
Green holds a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Washington, a master’s in physics from the State University of New York in Albany, and bachelor’s degree from Colorado College.
