PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Gerald Zornow, former president and chairman of the board of Eastman Kodak Co., died at his home Wednesday following a long illness. He was 68.
Two other former Kodak presidents died within the past eight days.
Zornow was appointed vice president of marketing in 1963, the year Kodak's Instamatic camera was introduced. He was instrumental in recognizing the customer needs that led to its development, company officials said.
Zornow was appointed Kodak president in 1970 and board chairman in 1972. He retired in 1976.
He was the third former Kodak president to die within eight days. Albert Chapman, 94, died Monday after a short illness and Louis Eilers died Aug. 22 in Phoenix at 77.
Zornow, a former baseball player for Rochester's minor league team, was the impetus behind Kodak's support for sports, including the former Kodak Classic basketball tournament, now known as the Rochester Basketball Classic.
Zornow was picked by President Gerald Ford in 1975 to head the President's Commission on Olympic Sports.
