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Al Gore praises Apple CEO Tim Cook as one of Time's '100 Most Influential'

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has been named to Time's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World," and the piece on Cook was penned by former U.S. vice president and current Apple board member Al Gore.

In an essay published in this week's magazine, Gore describes Cook as a "soft-spoken, genuinely humble and quietly intense son of an Alabama shipyard worker and a homemaker." He acknowledges the difficulty anyone would have following Steve Jobs as chief executive of Apple.

"He has indelibly imprinted his leadership on all areas of Apple — from managing its complex inner workings to identifying and shepherding new 'insanely great' technology and design breakthroughs into the product pipeline," Gore wrote.

Cook was named Apple's CEO last August after Jobs resigned because of health issues, shortly before his death in October. Cook has been regarded as an operational genius who can make the most out of Apple's supply chain.

Cook was also identified by Time in December as one of the magazine's "People Who Mattered" in 2011, while Jobs was given a "Fond Farewell" from the publication.

Also on this year's list of the "100 Most Influential People" is author Walter Isaacson, who penned the best selling biography of Jobs, released soon after his death last year. The essay on Isaacson was written by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.