Jim Kimsey James V . " Jim " Kimsey ( born September 15 , 1939 , Washington , D . C . ) is the founder , CEO , and first chairman of internet service provider America Online ( AOL ) . Although Kimsey is best known for creating AOL — the largest company ever started in the Washington , D . C . , area – he has spearheaded many other business , military and philanthropic endeavors . Early life . He grew up in Arlington , Virginia . After being dismissed from Gonzaga College High School , he attended St . John ' s College High School , followed by Georgetown University for one term on an honors scholarship , and then the United States Military Academy at West Point , from which he graduated in 1962 . Military . Kimsey served in the U . S . Army , becoming a lieutenant and seeing active participation in U . S . interventions in the Dominican Republic and Vietnam . In Vietnam , he made the acquaintance of future generals Wayne A . Downing ( who also graduated West Point in 1962 ) and John Abizaid . He served three combat tours as an Airborne Ranger , two in the Vietnam War , earning various awards for service and valor . In July 2005 , Kimsey was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame , which recognizes our nation ’ s most extraordinary Rangers . In 2008 , he received the Distinguished Graduate Award for Outstanding Service to the Nation from the U . S . Military Academy at West Point . Business . In 1970 , after eight years in the military , Kimsey bought a building in downtown Washington , D . C . , renting out the top floor . On the ground floor he built and opened a bar known as The Exchange . He " became successful and opened other bars in the 1970s . " In May 1983 , Kimsey became a manufacturing consultant for Control Video Corporation , which was near bankruptcy . He was brought in by his West Point friend Frank Caufield , an investor in the company . CVC was founded by William von Meister to market an online service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game console . Von Meister had previously hired Steve Case as a marketing consultant on the recommendation of his brother , investment banker Dan Case . Von Meister quietly left the company in early 1985 . Shortly thereafter Control Video was reorganized as Quantum Computer Services , with co - founders Kimsey ( CEO ) , Marc Seriff ( CTO ) and Steve Case . Quantum Computer Services was later reorganized as AOL . Kimsey served as CEO until 1995 , when Steve Case took the helm . Kimsey is a key investor in , and a director of private military contracting firm Triple Canopy , Inc . Philanthropy . He also serves as Chairman Emeritus of Refugees International Refugees International , an independent advocacy group that works to protect refugees and end the cause of displacement . Kimsey also serves as a member of the board of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and as a Senior Fellow to the Department of Defense Business Board . He is a member of the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress . In 2010 , Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Kimsey to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board , which oversees the investment of all gifts for the benefit of the Library ’ s collection and services . He serves on the Executive Committee of the National Symphony Orchestra . His philanthropy also includes the Kimsey Athletic Center at West Point , which he established in 1995 . Honors . Kimsey has received numerous entrepreneurship awards . He received Presidential appointments to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees and the West Point Board of Visitors . In 2001 , Secretary of State Colin Powell named Mr . Kimsey as Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons , an organization dedicated to identifying hundreds of thousands of missing from conflicts and natural disasters around the world , through DNA research .