Black & Gold Gala 2015 — Professional Achievement Award College of Engineering and Computer Science
Benjamin J. Patz, ’85 | Managing Director, The FAN Fund
The UCF Alumni Association and College of Education and Human Performance presented their 2015 Professional Achievement Award to Ben Patz at the annual Black & Gold Gala on Oct. 22.
Ben co-founded Coleman Technologies Inc., which provided IT and systems engineering services to public and private organizations. In 2010, the company merged with and into Presidio Inc., a professional and managed services firm delivering advanced IT infrastructure solutions.
Prior to founding CTI, he had 15 years of experience in system analysis, design and testing for the Naval Research Laboratory, Lockheed Martin and Coleman Research Corporation.
Most recently, he established the FAN Fund in which to invest professionally managed angel capital in growth-oriented companies in the technology and life sciences sectors in Florida.
The Patz family has strong ties to UCF, including Ben’s father, Dr. Benjamin W. Patz, who was a research scientist and UCF engineering professor, and his siblings and their families:
- Dr. Mark D. Patz, ’83, ’87, ’97
- (wife) Donna Curley Patz, ’86
- (daughter) Lindsey Patz, ’14
- (son) Tyler Patz — current UCF student
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- Susan Patz Pringle, ’86 — College of Education (UCF Athletics Hall of Fame 2000 inductee)
- (husband) Bruce Pringle, ’84
- Amy Patz Lewellyn, ’89
- (husband) Mark Lewellyn, ’87, ’89
- Dr. Eric M. Patz, ’15
Ben went to UCF early, doing dual enrollment, receiving his bachelor’s degree in mathematics by the time he finished high school, and entered the graduate mathematics program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the undergraduate engineering program. He returned to UCF and earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1985.
He’s served on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the College of Engineering and Computer Science since 2009.