“The technologies for today and tomorrow must emphasize information and communications for better and more cost-effective service to the consuming public. The competitive future of the American economy depends on the effective transfer into use of existing technology, as much as the development of new technology. For these we need world-class engineers.”

Dean Vought

President, Retired
Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation

Dean Vought was president of Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation, a national apparel technology center created to help the industry acquire the tools for competitiveness in a global society. He is also a retired executive vice president of Kurt Salmon Associates, Inc., a leading international management consulting organization specializing in apparel, healthcare, retailing and other consumer product industries.

After joining KSA in 1950 as a member of the firm’s Operations Group, Mr. Vought went on to manage the plant of its Roydon Wear subsidiary in 1952. Three years later, Mr. Vought became a principal of the consulting firm and, in 1960, a vice president. In 1962, he was appointed executive vice president and joined the executive committee, a body on which he served until 1985. He chaired the managing executive committee from 1972 to 1983. In his consulting career, Mr. Vought carried out or initiated projects in more than thirty countries on five continents.

Active in a wide range of industry associations and institutions, Mr. Vought served on the board of the Association of Management Consulting Firms for 15 years. He helped to form the Apparel Research Committee of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association in 1972. Upon completion of his consulting career in which he participated in globalizing his consulting group, he accepted the presidency of (TC)2, the Textile Clothing Technology Corporation.

Mr. Vought is interested in undergraduate and graduate education, particularly in manufacturing and sourcing and in creating curricula which address issues related to global competitiveness. He is a Penn State industrial engineering graduate.