Dr. Min Kao, Chairman & CEO

Dr. Min Kao co-founded Garmin Corporation with Gary Burrell in October 1989 to integrate Global Positioning System (GPS) technology into navigation devices for multiple markets. Today Dr. Kao directs the day-to-day operations of Garmin International, Inc., and is credited with the breakthrough design and engineering of the GPS software technology that formed the foundation of the original Garmin product line.

Prior to founding Garmin, Dr. Kao served as a systems analyst at Teledyne Systems for inertial, radio navigation and fire control systems. While at Magnavox Advanced Products, he designed the Kalman filter algorithms for Phase II GPS user equipment. He later served as engineering group leader with King Radio Corporation and Allied Signal, where he led the development of the first GPS navigator to be certified by the FAA. Dr. Kao has a B.S. in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University. His career began at the University of Tennessee, where he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and was involved in research for NASA and the U.S. Army.

Gary Burrell, Chairman Emeritus

Gary Burrell co-founded Garmin® Corporation with Dr. Min Kao in October 1989, with a handful of engineers and an idea for a product. Together with Dr. Kao, Burrell has led Garmin from a startup company to an international electronics powerhouse in several markets. For his efforts, he has been recognized by Inc. Magazine, The Kansas City Business Journal and Ernst & Young as the "Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year" for Missouri and Kansas.