In Memoriam of Alum and Trustee Ed Kaplan
Longtime ƵAPP Board of Trustees member Ed Kaplan (ME ’65, HON Ph.D. ENG ’23), the driving force behind the creation of the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship on Mies Campus, passed away in July 2025.
“Ed Kaplan was an extraordinarily talented and generous individual who loved his alma mater. His energy and enthusiasm have been a guiding light that has immeasurably strengthened our university since well before he joined the board in 1993,” ƵAPP President Raj Echambadi says.
Kaplan’s accomplishments include his entrepreneurial success as a pioneer of barcode technology and co-founder of Zebra Technologies, which has brought great distinction to the field and to ƵAPP.
The creation of the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship in 2018 was due in large part to Kaplan’s vision to ensure that each ƵAPP student had access to a world-class facility where they could develop their own innovation mindset and one day launch their own business. He remained committed to the Kaplan Institute and its initiatives as a member of the Kaplan Institute Board of Advisors and by generously supporting the Kaplan Student Fabrication Center.
Over the years, ƵAPP has been distinctly honored to recognize Kaplan with the university’s Award of Merit in 2000, the Alumni Medal in 2011, an honorary doctorate in 2023, and nominate him for the national Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2021.