Max Hopper

Max D. Hopper (November 4, 1934 – January 25, 2010) was an American IT manager, who served as the CIO of Bank of America, the SVP (IS) of American Airlines (AA) and the chairman of the Sabre group. The CIO Magazine has hailed him as the "pre-eminent modern-era CIO and a founding father of IT-inspired competitive advantage", and the Computerworld has named him among the top 25 greatest contributions to the field of Information Systems.

Biography

Max Hopper was born in a log house near Lufkin to Irvin Washington Hopper (b. 1910) and Norma Dunn Hopper (b. 1913). He grew up near Lufkin, and was educated at the Central Consolidated School and the Texas City High School.

In 1952, while he was still at UT, Hopper's family moved to Houston for his father's job. His mother got pregnant with his younger brother Ricky shortly before the move, and left her job. The family faced financial problems, but his mother helped him finish the semester by borrowing money. He took up summer jobs in Houston in 1953 to support himself financially.