We all were stunned to learn of his death.
To many of us, Dick Egan was a fundamental force of nature.
It goes without saying that Dick was the driving force behind EMC in its early years. He was personally responsible not only for our stellar success in the beginning, but shaping our cultural DNA in a way that persists to this very day. Indeed, many aspects of our industry are his direct legacy.
Way back when, Dick Egan *was* EMC. The company and the man were largely inseparable. To say he was a man with a vision would be a serious understatement of his contagious enthusiasm. The stories of his unique, compelling (and sometimes outrageous) style still circulate around the halls of the company.
Now that EMC is celebrating its 30th anniversary, it's a bittersweet occasion to look back at the man and the way he shaped so many of our lives.
He may have passed, but his impact will be felt for many, many years to come.
Hear hear! Here was a man who created the careers of many, the wealth of others and the inspiration all of us who work in the storage industry.
Posted by: Ben Woo - IDC | August 29, 2009 at 09:55 AM
Dick was a guy who loved his employees, every friday happy hour with Dick, Budweiser in the cafeteria in Hopkinton. The old days at EMC Corp. The world lost a very warm and kind business man........... Dick was one of the leading IT forces behind the Apollo project...I wish his family all strenght....
Posted by: Hugh Hulleman (former EMC international employee) | August 30, 2009 at 01:40 PM
I worked at EMC from 1984 to 1986 when the company was growing leaps and bounds. Dick and Maureen Egan made everyone feel like family. When I was getting married they hosted a bridal shower at their home for me. That left a cherished memory for me. Dick was a wonderful man and always had a ready smile. My thoughts are with Maureen and the entire family.
Posted by: Angela (Sakellarion) LeBlanc | August 30, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Dick was a wonderful caring Man, I joined EMC in 1987 back when it was still a private company, I was just off the plane from Ireland Dick took me under his wing and gave me a career that I would not have had without him giving me a start. A great loss
Posted by: Maria McAuliffe | August 31, 2009 at 04:27 AM
Having been first employed at EMC in 1996 I have been here through the glory and not so glory years. Dick was very seriously a legend of a man, one who's kindness and laugh will never be forgotten. There was never a time where he didn't smile, shake your hand and have something kind to say.
His belief that Family was every bit as important as performance in the workplace made EMC the pillar of strength that it remains today. Without his generosity and vision, so many of us would not be where we are today.
The world has lost a true hero, a man who had an ability to see below the surface like so few can. Someone who knew how to take care of business, but never lose sight of what is truly important.
My thoughts are very much with Maureen and the rest of the Egan family. These are very difficult times, mourn your loss but keep in mind. Dick shaped many of us today, he was and always will be one of our heroes.
Thoughts and Prayers are with you.
Glenn May
Posted by: Glenn May | August 31, 2009 at 07:44 AM
I was hired in 1986 and I am still here 23 years later. I am so proud to be an EMC employee because of the roots that I received in the early years from our upper management. Dick would come to our office and would sit down and just chat. What do you do when he wants to sit down and just chat? My palms would get sweaty and my mind would wonder if anything I could say would be interesting to him (boy, I was wrong because he had a memory like a hawk). I would be nervous because I truly looked up to him! I loved his complete mannerism. I loved his honesty, his bluntness, and his smile! He had such wisdom that you could tell he was special.
I am fortunate enough to had worked with all of the Egan family and they truly are a class act! My heart goes out to you all. Dick was a wonderful person (which you already know). Thank you for sharing him with the rest of us! I am truly grateful for everything that I have from working for his company. I do it all over again in a heart beat!
As we continue for strength to get through this sad time, I hope that you can find the great memories out way the sadness. My heart goes out to all of us that had the pleasure of knowing such a great man! Rest in peace Dick.
Employee #91
Posted by: Odette Holmes | September 02, 2009 at 02:19 PM
Being the Account Manager of a large revenue producing and strategic account I had the responsibility,pleasure, and privilige of making several "executive" calls with Dick. There was none better at it than Dick and we developed a strong friendship exemplified by our ability to talk to each other with our eyes and body language. We enjoyed diggin' each other as it is indigenous to our ancestry... Egan "Not sure about you McGowans", McGowan "Way too many Egans". As a business man Dick is without peer. As a person I would have to go to my family to find a person I respect more. I left EMC for non-business reasons I could not, at that moment, share with Dick. Dick visited that account shortly after to insure a smooth transition and told my executive friends(of 25 years) at that account " I wish McGowan would come back to work for me so I could fire his a**." My friends understood immediately the friendship Dick and I shared. I wish he were around to fire me again. Jack,please extend my deepest sympathy to your Mother and extended family on your loss. I miss my friend.
Don Mcgowan 10/15/09
Posted by: Don McGowan | October 15, 2009 at 02:19 PM
One of my favorite personal Dick Egan stories is I got a call one day from Dick's son Mike. This was when EMC was at Mercer road in Natick. Mike said "Dave-- Dick wants to see you can you come over here now?"
I went into Dick's spartan office and he said: "I have an idea. I want to sell our memory into IBM's 3880 disk controller to speed it up-- do you think that's a good idea?" I said I did because everyone complained that it was so slow and the IBM mainframe disk market was huge. But I suggested that I call some customers to see what they thought and do a quick study.
About 3 weeks later I go back to Dick's office and present my findings. Seventeen out of twenty customers complained the controller was too slow so I said "Dick...you have to do this!" I presented market numbers and showed Dick how much money he could make. He said "great work" and went off to make it happen.
About two years later I was talking to Dick and he said "you know that advice you gave me about the 3880 cache...I think we sold three." We laughed because it turned out the controller bandwidth couldn't handle the increased speed. Oops.
He said: "I have another idea...we can pack a bunch of memory in a box and make a lightning fast solid state disk." I said "Dick...you have to do this..."
Dick had a presence. Dick was never small time to me-- even when EMC was nothing Dick Egan was a giant in my eyes.
Posted by: David Vellante | November 14, 2009 at 10:01 AM