Jim Kimsey, who has died of cancer at the age of 76, was the co-founder of the internet pioneer AOL, and also served as Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons, which is dedicated to identifying the missing from conflicts and natural disasters through DNA research.
In the early 1980s, Kimsey, an army veteran who served two tours of Vietnam, was a restaurateur in Washington. A venture-capitalist friend of his from West Point asked him to have a look at a video game download company called Control Video. That company failed, and was reorganised into one called Quantum Computer Services, with Kimsey at the helm. In 1991 it was renamed America Online, famous for its "You've got mail" greeting. It would grow to connect millions of early internet users with its dial-up service.
Kimsey is credited with supporting and grooming a young Steve Case, today the man largely associated with AOL's growth and success in the early days of the internet. "I think one of the best things I ever did was let Steve run the company," Kimsey said in 1995. "Today that one decision to get out of the way makes me look like a genius."
As well as his work with the International Commission on Missing Persons, which was established by Bill Clinton in 1996, Kimsey also served as Chairman Emeritus of Refugees International, an independent advocacy group that works to protect refugees and end the causes of displacement, and as a member of the board of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
James Kimsey, businessman and philanthropist: born Washington 15 September 1939; married (three sons); died McLean, Virginia 1 March 2016.
