Parker H. "Pete" Petit
BSME 1962, MSEM 1964, Georgia Institute of Technology
Thanks to a $5 million individual donation from Parker H. Petit, the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech, was officially named the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB) in 1996, continuing his vision and leadership in the areas of biotechnology.
In June 1970, Parker H. "Pete" Petit lost his infant son, Michael Brett, to crib death. The death left engineering manager Petit determined to create a device that would protect infants against crib death or sudden infant death syndrome and provided the impetus for the founding of Life Systems, Inc., the company that would develop and market the new monitor. Life System's initial focus was infant home monitors, and its first product was introduced in 1972. In 1973 the company produced a device used by respiratory therapists to wean patients from ventilator dependency and in that same year, the company changed its name to Healthdyne, Inc.
In the mid-1980s, the company proceeded to build a domestic and international reputation as both a medical products manufacturer and a home care services provider. In the late 1980s, the company introduced several innovative products in the infant monitor and oxygen concentrator markets and a series of diagnostic and therapeutic products for the emerging practice of sleep medicine. Healthdyne also began focusing on the business of maternity management and established a service business, Healthdyne Perinatal Services, for home monitoring of pregnant women at risk to deliver prematurely.
Healthdyne was split into several public corporations in the mid 1990s, and it sold one of its largest public subsidiaries to W.R. Grace Corporation. Healthdyne Technologies, a manufacturer of high-technology medical devices, was merged with Respironics in 1997. Healthdyne Maternity Management was merged with Tokos Medical to form Matria Healthcare in 1996, where Petit serves as chairman of the board, president, and CEO. Today, Matria is the leading provider of comprehensive disease management programs to health plans and employers for women's health and the chronic conditions of diabetes and respiratory disorders.
Petit's leadership and vision for Healthdyne and later Matria heralded the companies' success. Petit is currently taking the dreams of Georgia Tech's faculty in bioengineering and bioscience to a new level by his interest and support for the research conducted in the Petit Institute. Through his foresight, the Petit Institute has become a major bio-related research center and continues to strive toward excellence in academics and scientific investigation.