Stephen F. Thornton

 

Stephen F. Thornton of Huntsville has recently been named to the University of Montevallo Board of Trustees.

Retired since 2002, Thornton previously served as president and CEO of Avocent. The company was formed in 2000 by the merger of leading industry innovators Apex, Inc., and Cybex Computer Products Corporation. Thornton had been chairman of the board of Cybex since 1987 and president and CEO of the company since 1984. (In December 2009, Avocent became a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson Electric, a global leader in IT infrastructure optimization.)

From 1981 to 1984, Thornton served as president of Schiller Industries, an ultra-precision machining, specialty cable and laser scanning company in the aerospace industry.

Thornton was named Entrepreneur of the Year in the Technology, Communication and Entertainment category of Ernst & Young’s Southeastern area program in June 1999. He was one of 26 regional finalists honored for their leadership and entrepreneurial spirit. Under his leadership, Cybex grew to become a global company with $82.2 million in sales with offices worldwide.

A former member of the Alabama State Port Authority’s board of directors, Thornton was honored with the establishment of the Stephen F. Thornton Engineering Scholarship at the University of Alabama in Huntvsille. The scholarship in his honor was established by Avocent.

Thornton, who attended the University of Montevallo in 1962, will serve the unexpired vacancy for the first congressional district. His term expires in 2017.