The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : Ex-IBM Exec Corrigan to Head Imax

Robert J. Corrigan, who surprised the computer industry last May by announcing his retirement as head of IBM’s personal computer operations, is leaping into high-tech entertainment.

Imax Corp., the Toronto-based pioneer of giant-screen movies for theme parks and museums, said Tuesday that it has tapped Corrigan, 54, to be president and chief executive.

As president of IBM Personal Computer Co., Corrigan was widely praised for single-handedly building a strong personal-computing business while much of the rest of the Armonk, N.Y., company was in chaos. But when PC sales suddenly dropped off, IBM instituted sweeping changes, and Corrigan simultaneously posted his retirement notice.

A columnist at PC Week, a trade publication, maintained that Corrigan had been “beheaded by a new Armonk regime hell-bent on results through centralized control.”

At Imax, which went public in June, Corrigan will enter a much smaller but fast-changing arena where computers and entertainment are melding.

One of Imax’s owners is Douglas Trumbull, the motion-simulation wizard behind the “Back to the Future” ride at Universal Studios’ theme parks.

Imax hopes to become the leader in providing highly technological entertainment outside the home, but it faces stiff competition from Iwerks Entertainment and Showscan Corp.