Thomas C. Pridmore Endowed Scholarship
Purpose
Offer scholarships to assist undergraduate students pursuing a career in Engineering at Florida Tech. (GF000091)Description
Recipients must be new students majoring in Engineering; Scholarships are renewable. Preference given to women or other underrepresented populations in the engineering field; preference given to students of excellence; preference given to Electrical or Computer Engineering students.
History
Thomas C. Pridmore was born in Birmingham, Alabama on August 20th, 1923. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University after he served in the Army in World War II as a member of the Signal Corps, where he set up communications on the European and Japanese fronts.
His professional career started in 1946 and he worked for some of the major US electronics manufacturers, including Bell Labs, Westinghouse, and ITT. Later, in 1963, Pridmore moved to Indialantic to become an independent electronics manufacturer’s representative. During the 80s, he sold his business and decided to set up as an electronics distributor. He started Pridmore Corp. in his garage, however, the business grew to be a well-respected distributor serving the region’s electronics producers.
He made himself known in the electronics industry by being a successful salesman in Florida and an active member of IEEE (the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity) and NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association).
Thomas Pridmore died on April 13th, 2006, leaving the legacy of Pridmore Corp. to his daughter and two long-term employees and he is remembered by his loved ones as a passionate guy who was a huge car and motorcycle fan.
