Honorary Mechanical Engineer
B.B.A. Route to Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 1957
Presently he is the principal of Thrust Drive LLC, an investment company that has just received a U.S. patent for the Thrust Drive System for enhanced helicopter safety and reliability. He had years of experience as part owner and operator of a family-owned company, Southern Electric Supply Co. (SESCO) which was one of the largest wholesale distributors of electrical equipment and supplies in the South. As President of SESCO, he negotiated a very favorable sale of the company, retaining ownership of all the warehouses. He is a co-founder of DeWalch Technologies Inc. a company with numerous patents, which has manufactured security products for the electrical utility industry for over thirty years. For many years, Don has operated Normandy Properties Inc. which is the family-owned entity that develops and owns real estate. He was one of the founding directors of Black Stone Minerals Co. which has become the largest publicly traded mineral and royalty company in the United States (NYSE Symbol---BSM). Mr. DeWalch also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) which is owned by Texas Medical Institutions and operates the largest district energy plant in the United States and supplies chilled water and steam to the Texas Medical Center. While Don is not a ME alum he has done so much for the betterment of the engineering, and manufacturing. Their company employs hundreds and has multiple patents for their innovative locking systems created at DeWalch Technologies. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Texas Children’s Hospital for over 47 years and is still active on the building committee core team. Don never stops learning and finding other areas to get passionate about, even at the young age of 86 when he was exploring ways to partner with current ASE professors.
