Jerry S. Rawls currently serves as Finisar Corporation's President & Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since March 1989. Finisar was started by Jerry Rawls and Frank H. Levinson in the year 1988.[1] The Rawls College of Business and The Rawls Course at Texas Tech University are named for him. On October 2, 2003, Rawls Hall in the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University was also named in honor of Rawls.
Rawls was born in Houston, Texas. He spent his early years growing up in Texas. An enterprising kid, he took up jobs to earn pocket money, and even became a part of a Junior achievement organization where they made soap and sold it to supermarkets.
From 1968 to 1989, he was employed by Raychem Corporation, a materials science and engineering company. At Raychem he held various management positions including Manager of Product Marketing, National Sales Manager, General Manager of the Aerospace Products Division, and General Manager of the Interconnection Systems Division.
Rawls holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University and an M.S.in Industrial Administration from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma engineering honorary societies as well as Phi Gamma Delta collegiate social fraternity.