Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion Limited (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) (RIM) announced today that Don Morrison, currently on temporary medical leave, is planning to retire from his position as Chief Operating Officer, BlackBerry following more than ten years of service with RIM.
“We thank Don for his outstanding service to RIM. We understand and respect his decision to retire after successfully dealing with a serious medical challenge and we wish him a quick recovery,” stated Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEOs at RIM. “Don’s presence at RIM will be missed, but our senior management and sales teams had already stepped up to manage Don’s responsibilities since the commencement of his medical leave and we’re confident in the ability of those teams to continue Don’s tradition of success going forward.”
Don Morrison has led a distinguished career. He joined RIM in 2000 with a mandate to strengthen RIM’s international operations and help build a world-class service organization. Since that time, RIM has expanded to more than 175 countries around the world and RIM’s fiscal year revenues have grown from approximately $200 million to nearly $20 billion. Before joining RIM, Don held a number of senior leadership positions in Canada, Europe and the United States with AT&T and Bell Canada. His creative and disciplined approach to a customer driven business model also led to significant operational improvements in those companies.