Scott T. Garrett, Beckman Coulter, Inc. on Entrepreneurship

Winter Quarter 2010 Entrepreneurship Seminar Series

Featuring Scott T. Garrett
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Beckman Coulter, Inc. 

Location: McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium
Free and open to the public

The Entrepreneurship Seminar Series provides a real-world introduction to the theory and practice of entrepreneurship.  Through a series of presentations by prestigious entrepreneurs and industry leaders, participants will explore the various organizational, strategic and financial challenges facing successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs.  Topics include start-up strategies, business idea evaluation, business plan writing, and introduction to venture capital.

For a complete listing of Entrepreneurship Seminar Series guest speakers, please visit http://www.eng.uci.edu/events/entseminars.

About the Speaker:
Scott Garrett, 59, is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Beckman Coulter, Inc. Garrett was named chairman of the board of directors in 2008. He became CEO in February 2005, was elected to Beckman Coulter’s board of directors in January 2005, and was named president and chief operating officer in December 2003. Garrett joined Beckman Coulter in 2002 as president of the Clinical Diagnostics Division.

In the five years since becoming CEO, Garrett has led Beckman Coulter through a period of significant growth and change to a $3.6 billion company with 12,000 employees on six continents. During this time, the company converted the way customers acquired their instruments from sales-type leases to an operating-type lease model, providing a stable and reliable base of recurring revenue. Company-wide implementation of Lean Six-Sigma methods enabled reductions in brick and mortar footprint while maintaining industry-leading quality levels. Organizational changes yielded greater operational flexibility and the introduction of eight major instrument systems and many new tests. And several acquisitions, including the most recent, the acquisition of the lab-based business of Olympus Diagnostics, position the company for continuing expansion.

Before joining Beckman Coulter, Garrett served as chief executive officer of Garrett Capital Advisors, LLC – a company he founded in 1998. After establishing an alliance with First Chicago Equity Capital, Garrett Capital Advisors successfully built a portfolio of private companies and venture investments in the medical device and life sciences industries. Garrett served as a board member for several of the acquired companies and as chief executive officer of Kendro Laboratory Products, a prominent life science company.

Prior to his experience in private equity, Garrett spent nearly 25 years in the medical device and life science industries working for Baxter International and American Hospital Supply Corporation. He began his career with Baxter in research and development and was awarded several patents. After working in research and development, his career progressed through business development to general management. His assignments included: vice president, Strategy and Business Development; managing director, Baxter Diagnostics Europe; president, Baxter Paramax Systems Division; executive vice president, Baxter Diagnostics Inc.; group vice president of Baxter; and finally chief executive officer for Baxter’s $1.7 billion global laboratory products subsidiary.

In 1994, Garrett led the buyout of Baxter’s diagnostics business. As chairman and chief executive officer, he built Dade International (the Baxter spin-off) into one of the world’s largest clinical diagnostics companies with over 8,000 employees and $1.5 billion in sales revenue.

Garrett serves on the board of directors for AdvaMed, the world’s largest association representing manufacturers of medical devices, diagnostic products, and medical information systems.  He is also on the board of InHealth (Institute for Health Technologies), a nonprofit organization focused on research, analysis and education about the social and economic value and impact of medical devices and diagnostics. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Valparaiso University and a Master of Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Garrett resides in Lemon Heights, California.