April 11, 2006
Purdue School of Industrial Engineering honors alumnus
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Thomas D. Weldon, Atlanta, Ga., graduated in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and then an MBA from Indiana University. He holds 24 United States patents on medical devices.
Weldon serves on the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship advisory board and is a member of the President's Council and the Capital Formation Committee.
"I believe that few people choosing a major in college really know what they will be doing professionally 10 to 20 years later," Weldon said. "I chose industrial engineering at Purdue because I felt it would provide a relatively broad technical background."
Weldon is the co-founder and chairman of The Innovation Factory, a company that helps create medical technology businesses. He is also co-founder and director of several companies, including Accuitive Medical Ventures, LipoSonix, Cerebral Vascular Applications, Neo Vista, NeuroNetics and Novoste Corp.
"Since I graduated with my bachelor's degree from Purdue, I have started more than a dozen companies," Weldon said. "My bachelor's degree has been instrumental in both product development as well as a perfect combination with an MBA to facilitate high-tech company creation."
In 2004, Weldon and his family helped establish the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue with a $10 million gift from the Weldon Foundation Inc.
Writer: Kiersti Kjonaas, (765) 494-2081, kkjonaas@purdue.edu
Source: Daniel Folta, director of development, School of Industrial Engineering, dfolta@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related Web site:Purdue College of Engineering
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