Bob Touchton of Strategic Technologies Named Distinguished Alumni Award Winner

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA-Bob Touchton, the vice president of the Advanced Technologies division of Strategic Technologies, Inc., has been named the University of North Floridas (UNF) Distinguished Alumni Award winner. The Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award is the highest award given to a UNF alumnus. Touchton was recognized for his contributions to the University, including serving as a member and former chair of the advisory council for the College of Computing Sciences and Engineering, helping out at the annual high school robotics competition on campus, and making scholarships available to students.

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA-Bob Touchton, the vice president of the Advanced Technologies division of Strategic Technologies, Inc., has been named the University of North Floridas (UNF) Distinguished Alumni Award winner.

The Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award is the highest award given to a UNF alumnus. Touchton was recognized for his contributions to the University, including serving as a member and former chair of the advisory council for the College of Computing Sciences and Engineering, helping out at the annual high school robotics competition on campus, and making scholarships available to students.

"Im deeply honored and feel truly blessed to be chosen for this award. It has always been important to me that I give something back to the community," Touchton said.

Touchton has been busy as well in his professional life. Through mergers and acquisitions, PathTech, a Jacksonville company he helped start in 1984, has been transformed into one of the major technology firms on the East Coast. In February of 2000, Strategic Technologies, Inc., an information technologies company based in Cary, NC, acquired PathTech. In October of last year, Strategic Technologies acquired The Allied Group, also an information technologies company based in Glastonbury, CT that served the Northeast. These three companies were blended to form the "new" Strategic Technologies. As an integral part of this company, Touchton monitors new software technologies and works closely with two of the companys major corporate partners, IBM and Microsoft.

Touchton graduated from Lee High School in Jacksonville. He pursued his interests in science at the University of Florida where he received his bachelors degree in nuclear engineering followed by two masters degrees-one in nuclear science and engineering at Carnegie-Mellon University and the other in computer science at UNF. He then worked as an engineer for Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, working his way up to serve as a senior engineer at the companys offshore power systems division in Jacksonville. In 1984, Touchton and several others ventured out on their own and started PathTech Software Solutions Inc., which specialized in custom software development, electronic commerce, work- flow automation, and network design.

Strategic Technologies (www.stratech.com) is a leading advisor and integrator of business and technology with headquarters in Cary, North Carolina and offices throughout the eastern United States. The company serves its clients business-critical needs by providing the strategy, architecture, development, integration, deployment, and operational support of complex technology solutions that transform visions to value. By leveraging its industry knowledge and technology expertise, Strategic Technologies helps clients speed up and improve on business processes, drive out activities that do not add value, and capture and apply knowledge throughout the enterprise. On the web at www.stratech.com, email info@stratech.com, or call toll free at 1-888-260-0990.