Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 14, 2002
D. DEAN SPATZ, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Osmonics, Inc., since 1969, received a BE and Liberal Arts degree from
Dartmouth College and a Master of Engineering degree from the Thayer
School of Engineering, Dartmouth College. Mr. Spatz is a Registered
Professional Chemical Engineer and member of the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers, the American Membrane Technology Association, the
American Water Works Association, the North American Membrane Society,
the International Desalting Association and the American Society for
Testing and Materials and he is listed in 'Who's Who in Engineering.' He
is also a member of the Board of Directors of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation,
a Fortune 1000 Company, and SI Technologies, Inc., both NASDAQ-listed
companies. He is on the Board of Directors of the Water Quality
Association and is active in the World Presidents' Organization. He is
on the Corporate Advisory Board for the Thayer School of Engineering and
is a periodic lecturer at Dartmouth College and other institutions.
Active in membrane technology since 1964, Mr. Spatz initially worked
under contract with the Office of Saline Water, U.S. Department of the
Interior to develop low pressure reverse osmosis membranes and
equipment. In 1968, he was manager of engineering for Aqua Technology,
Inc., and in 1969 founded Osmonics, Inc. Mr. Spatz has been awarded five
US patents and their related foreign patents in the reverse osmosis and
ultrafiltration field. He is the author of 25 technical papers on the
use of reverse osmosis and other membranes for water recycling, heavy
metal reclamation, industrial waste water treatment and food processing,
as well as water purification for medical and industrial applications.
In 1975, he received the Putnam Food Award for 'Sugar Reclamation System
Using Reverse Osmosis' and Mr. Spatz and Osmonics received the Chemical
Equipment Energy Award in 1982 for a unique two-pass reverse osmosis
system. In 1991, Mr. Spatz was voted 'Minnesota's Entrepreneur of the
Year' in the high technology/medical field. Profile
Osmonics?
Mr. Spatz: We will be doing about $215 million in sales this year but
the company actually started in 1969, back in
