The Utah Technology Council today announced this year’s Hall of Fame inductees will be U.S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Gretchen McClain and Will West.
The inductees will be honored on November 2 at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City at the UTC Hall of Fame Celebration, the annual gathering of the technology industry. Hatch is the first lawmaker, and McClain is the first woman to be inducted into UTC’s Hall of Fame in its 16-year history.
“The track record of these leaders is unparalleled, and we are so excited to be inducting them into the 2015 Hall of Fame,” said Richard R. Nelson, president and CEO of the UTC. “These leaders have served in significant leadership roles in a variety of areas as pacesetters representing Utah’s outstanding technology accomplishments. Please save the date for this historic moment for the Utah technology industry.”
2015 Inductees:
Now in his seventh term as United States Senator for Utah, Orrin G. Hatch has spent nearly four decades fighting to bring Utah common sense to Washington. The most senior Republican in the Senate and an official member of the Senate leadership team, Senator Hatch serves as Chairman of the Finance Committee, with jurisdiction over taxes, healthcare, international trade, and entitlements. He is a senior member and former Chairman of both the Judiciary Committee; the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; and a member of the Joint Committee on Taxation. He also has the honor of serving on the Board of Directors for the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
In addition, Senator Hatch serves as Chairman of the Republican High Tech Task Force, leading a group of Republican senators in developing policies that will help the technology industry in Utah and the United States continue to grow, create jobs, and lead the world in innovation. The solutions championed by Senator Hatch include fixing our high-skilled immigration system, combating patent trolls, safeguarding data stored abroad, and protecting trade secrets.
Gretchen W. McClain is an accomplished business leader who thrives on energizing organizations and building businesses by enhancing innovation and developing exceptional leadership talent. She has more than 25 years of global experience in both Fortune 500 corporations and government service, including serving as founding CEO of an S&P 500 global water technology company, Xylem Inc., and NASA’s Chief Director of the International Space Station.
McClain serves as a Board of Director for three publicly-traded companies: AMETEK, Inc., a $4.0B leading global engineering and manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices; Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation, a leading provider of management consulting, technology and engineering services to the U.S. government and the commercial market; and Con-way Inc., a $5.5 billion freight transportation and logistics services company. Collectively, she serves as a member of the Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Governance Committees in her current Board seats. She also provides advisory services to international corporations and foundations through her consulting practice, G W McClain Advisory Services.
McClain has served in numerous senior executive positions in both the government and industry starting from a systems engineer. As the founding President and CEO of Xylem, an S&P 500 company and global water technology company with revenues of $3.8B, she oversaw the successful creation and spin-off of the company from ITT Corporation. At ITT, she served as President of ITT Fluid Motion and Control, a $4.5B diversified leading manufacturing company of highly-engineered technology and equipment, where she led the organization to double-digit revenue growth. Prior to ITT, McClain held a number of executive positions at Honeywell Aerospace (formerly AlliedSignal), including Vice President and General Manager of the Business, General Aviation and Helicopters Electronics and Chief Technology Officer of Aerospace Engines and Systems. Earlier in her career, McClain spent nine years with NASA, including serving as Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Development, the top management position responsible for NASA’s International Space Station (ISS). In this capacity, she played a pivotal leadership role in the successful development and launch of the ISS program and Shuttle/Mir missions. McClain received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for her service.
She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and received the University’s prestigious Founders Award in 2015.
Will West is the CEO of SilverVue, a remote care platform that facilitates the transition from traditional fee-for-service healthcare to accountable care. Prior to founding SilverVue, he was the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Control4 (NASDAQ: CTRL). After co-founding Control4 in March of 2003 with his longtime partner Eric Smith, he led the company's efforts in creating a revolutionary new line of affordable home automation solutions. He took the company public after surpassing $100 million in annual revenue. Will retired from Control4 in early 2014 to devote his entire focus to SilverVue.
In addition to taking Control4 public and raising public capital, Will has raised more than $400 million in private capital. In 1998, he co-founded iBAHN (then called STSN). Under his leadership as the CEO, the company became the worldwide leader in broadband services for business travelers, serving millions of customers in thousands of hotels. Prior to founding iBAHN, Will was CEO and co-founder of PHAST Corporation, a manufacturer of high-end home automation equipment. Like his subsequent companies, PHAST became the leader in its field under his direction. Will's other professional experience includes Proctor & Gamble, the FSLIC, and Wasatch Advisors. He holds a degree in Finance from the University of Utah and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds the CFA designation.
Will retired last year as the chairman of the board of the Utah Capital Investment Corporation (the State of Utah's "Fund of Funds"), where he served for close to 10 years, fundamentally changing the early-stage capital structure of the state. He served two terms as Chairman of the Board for the Utah Technology Council (UTC), working with Richard Nelson and Judy Young to create one of the most respected state technology associations in the country. Along with his other commitments to the local community, Will sat on the Governor’s Economic Council and served multiple terms as Chairman of the Leonardo, Utah’s premier Science, Art, and Technology Museum, where he remains a member of the Board of Directors. Will was recently appointed by Senate President Wayne Niederhauser to the Governing Board of the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR).
Will has been repeatedly named to Utah Business Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the State. He was twice named Utah Valley Entrepreneur of the Year and was named the Ernst & Young Master Entrepreneur Of The Year® in the intermountain region. In 2008 he was named CEO of the Year by the Utah Technology Council.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductees join past recipients Stephen Aldous, A. Scott Anderson, Alan Ashton, David Bailey, Dale H. Ballard, Bruce Bastian, H. Raymond Bingham, David Bradford, Nolan Bushnell, Greg Butterfield, Edwin Catmull, James Clark, Gary L. Crocker, Bernard Daines, David Evans, Philo Farnsworth, Mark Fuller, Alan E. Hall, Stephen Jacobsen, Josh James, Jim Kajiya, Alan Kay, Spencer Kirk, Carl R. Kjeldsberg, Fred Lampropoulos, Michael O. Leavitt, John M. Matsen, III, Drew Major, Peter Meldrum, Raymond Noorda, Dinesh Patel, Kirk M. Ririe, Shane Robison, Kevin Rollins, Mark Skolnick, James LeVoy Sorenson, David Spafford, Theodore H. Stanley, Thomas Stockham, Jr., Ivan Sutherland, Homer Warner and John Warnock.
About The UTC Hall of Fame
The annual Hall of Fame event honors individuals with Utah ties who have made global contributions to the information technology and clean tech industries through new technology, innovation and leadership. The gala also headlines CEO keynotes from the world’s great technology companies.
The Hall of Fame celebration is the year’s largest gathering of Utah technology executives. UTC invites members of Utah's technology industries, as well as business and community leaders, to join in honoring this year's inductees.
For more information or to be a sponsor and register for the Hall of Fame, visit utahtech.org/halloffame or call (801) 568-3500.
