It’s a sad day around Cox Communications. Long-time president and CEO Jim Robbins, who retired at the end of 2005, died last night at his home in Massachusetts after a battle with cancer. Jim was known as a cable-industry pioneer who drove Cox, and in many ways the whole industry, into a new competitive era by launching telephone and high-speed Internet services over the cable TV infrastructure. He was also among the first to insist on customer care standards in the industry, stressing long before cable was a multi-service business that customer loyalty would be key to the industry’s future ability to meet customer demands.

At Cox, Jim was revered for not only his professional accomplishments, but his personal traits – his devotion to his wife, Debby, and their three daughters… his sometimes-gruff-on-the-outside-but-always-warm-and-compassionate-on-the-inside demeanor… his affinity for wearing rumpled hats and fleece vests… and his frequent use of Naval terms, even decades after serving in Vietnam. Jim was at the helm of the company when it went public in 1995 and nearly doubled in size after a big acquisition. As the company grew rapidly in number of customers and employees, Jim still insisted on knowing employees’ first names, and he related with all of us in a refreshingly rare sincere way. He will be sorely missed. [Click here for more about Jim.]