Dr. Tom Brady is Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) and five other PTI companies, including Phoenix Technologies International (www.phoenixtechnologies.net), PTI Operations LLC (www.preformtechnologies.com), PTI–Europe SARL (www.pti-usa.com), Guardian Medical USA (www.guardianmedicalusa.com), and The Packaging Conference LLC (www.thepackagingconference.com), a joint venture company which organizes international technical conferences. Founded in 1985, the PTI companies are recognized for their expertise in plastic packaging, plastic product and process technology development, plastics recycling, and specialty product manufacturing.
In 2019, Phoenix Technologies was acquired by Far Eastern New Century a Taiwanese supplier of virgin and recycled PET with operations in Japan, the Philippines, and China, and in 2021 PTI, PTI-Europe, and PTI Operations were acquired by SIPA Solutions (www.sipasolutions.com), an Italian supplier of plastic processing equipment with operations in China, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Brazil. Guardian Medical USA remains a Toledo-based startup company that supplies proprietary sterile medical packaging.
Prior to founding PTI, Dr. Brady was Vice President of Plastics Technology for Owens-Illinois, Inc. (O-I) where he directed the technical activities for all O-I’s plastic product lines and led the development of the first PET plastic beverage bottle.
Dr. Brady has served on the Board of Trustees at Lourdes University, the Medical University of Ohio, and the University of Toledo, and he served as the Interim Dean for the Judith Herb College of Education at The University of Toledo (UT) from 2009-2011.
Dr. Brady served on the Ohio Governor’s first Third Frontier Advisory Board, Ohio’s I-Corps review board, and the Northwest Ohio Regional Growth Partnership board. He is a member of the Imagination Station’s Science Society, the Toledo Museum of Art’s Business Council, the UT Medical Research Society, the HOPE Toledo board, and remains a fellow on the Toledo Association for the Performing Arts (TAPA) board.
Dr. Brady was a founding board member of the Toledo Technology Academy and also served as Chairman of the Toledo School for the Arts board. Tom and his wife Betsy actively support the Brady Partnership Schools program, a joint venture between Toledo Public Schools and the University of Toledo, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo, Junior Achievement’s 5th Year Program, and they are supporting Toledo Public Schools’ Educator Academy, a joint venture between Toledo Public Schools and the University of Toledo which begins in the 7th grade to train students to become K12 teachers.
Dr. Brady received BA and MS degrees in Engineering from Dartmouth College and a PhD in Plastic Materials Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1972. He was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989, was inducted into both the Society of Plastics Industry Hall of Fame and the Plastic Machine Manufacturers Institute Packaging Hall of Fame in 2012.
PTI received the Small Business Award in 1995, the Partner in Progress Award in 2001, and the Employer’s Association President’s Award in 2006. Tom and his wife, Betsy, were recognized jointly as Philanthropists of the Year in 2006 and have endowed The Entrepreneurship Fund at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, the Freshman Experience Program in the College of Engineering at UT, and have established both a Dean’s Innovation Fund and a Community Partners in Education Scholarship Fund in the Judith Herb College of Education at UT.
From 2022-2026 Tom published 5 books summarizing his career, including Impact of Owens-Illinois on the World, History of the PET Bottle, Plastic Technologies, Inc - Our Story, The PET Bottle Industry Pioneers, and Tom Brady’s Historic Plastic Bottle Museum, (https://store.bookbaby.com/websearch/websearchindex?searchterms=tom%20brady&search=dr%20tom%20brady)
Tom and Betsy have 3 married children and 12 grandchildren and Tom spends his spare time supporting PreK-12 and higher education, playing the piano, restoring classic cars, and in his woodworking shop.
Dr. Brad Rieger’s “In the Arena” interview with Tom offers a comprehensive online summary of Tom’s life and career (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-arena-conversations-of-a-lifetime/id1540350389?i=1000607386036).
