2025 Stevens Alumni Award Recipient
Edward C. Eichhorn, Jr. ’69
2025 SAA Stevens Alumni Award
Edward C. (Ed) Eichhorn, Jr. ’69 considered following in the footsteps of his father, a highly decorated bombardier in the 8th Air Force during World War II. “I went as far as applying for a congressional appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy,” he recalls. “While I was waiting for a response, I visited Stevens. The reception I received there was very inviting. At that time, in 1965, the campus was impressive with its new center building. Although I did win my congressional appointment, the more I thought about it, Stevens seemed like the right place for me. I have always been happy with my choice.”
Ed jumped into campus life. He served as president of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity; president of the Varsity S Club, played varsity basketball, and was a member of the Interfraternity Council and the Student Council. He also served as associate editor of The Stute and was active with Pi Delta Epsilon and Gear & Triangle. “I had a very busy schedule outside of class,” he says. “There were Interfraternity Council meetings on Sunday evenings, fraternity chapter meetings on Mondays, student council on Tuesday. On Wednesday nights we put The Stute to bed and drove it to the printers by 6:00 a.m. on Thursdays. This was in addition to basketball practice and games.”
Ed made the transition to dedicated alumnus in the year following graduation. From 1970 to 1992, he volunteered as an annual fund class caller and has served as class reunion co-chair several times. His generous alumni involvement was recognized with election to the Khoda Senior Honor Society and in 1984 with the Harold R. Fee 1920 Alumni Achievement Award.
Ed’s career in healthcare products and service development took off as well. In addition to his Stevens degree in chemical engineering, he earned an MBA in industrial management from Fairleigh Dickinson University. “My partners and I founded and managed a company we called Biotrax International that provided specialized testing services for nephrology practices,” he explains. “After we sold Biotrax in the 1990s, I joined Medical Resources, an MRI center company, as a senior vice president. In 2005 I formed a consulting practice, The Medilink Consulting Group, that is still actively providing advisory services to medical societies and commercial clients.”
Of his alumni involvement, Ed takes great pride in being selected as Stevens Alumni Association (SAA) president in 2007. “This role provided me with a seat on the Board of Trustees at a very challenging time in Stevens’ history,” he says.
“When my term ended, I was asked to become a charter trustee and chair of the nominating and governance committees of the board,” Ed continues. “As a result, with board approval, I was responsible for crafting the plan to recruit the next president of Stevens. I helped interview the finalists in the search that resulted in Nariman Farvardin becoming the university’s 7th president.”
That was in 2010, when Stevens was also seeking a vice president for development. “I was asked to step off the board to take on this role,” he says. “We expanded the development team and under the guidance of Dr. Farvardin we grew annual fundraising from $3.5 million per year to $24.5 million in just three years. We earned recognition from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) as the most improved fundraising university in the United States with an endowment under $1 billion.”
In addition to his work with Medilink, Ed founded the Healing American Healthcare Coalition. In 2018, he co-authored Healing American Healthcare: A Plan to Provide Quality Care for All, While Saving $1 Trillion a Year. Eichhorn’s second healthcare book, Healing American Healthcare – Lessons from the Pandemic, was co-authored with fellow Stevens alumnus John Dalton ’60. During the pandemic, Ed and John launched an e-newsletter, The Three Minute Read™. This twice-monthly curated summary of current events in healthcare enjoys a readership of nearly 1,000.
Ed’s commitment to alumni involvement is as strong as ever. In addition to serving as class secretary for the Class of 1969, he spoke at the Old Guard Luncheon in 2019 and was a School of Business Heath Lecturer in 2020.
Ed looks to his Stevens education as an important factor in his ability to succeed on so many fronts. “The structured and challenging curriculum of my undergraduate years at Stevens taught me and my classmates to think through how to solve difficult problems of all kinds,” he says. “It provided me and my fellow alumni with the skills to face and solve technical issues, management challenges, and barriers to the introduction of products and services in the fields we chose.”
Stevens also played an important role in Ed’s personal life. “I met my wife Paula through her brother Joe, a classmate,” he says. “We have been married for 53 years. We have three children and seven grandchildren.”
“I am also blessed with many lifelong friends from my years at Stevens,” he adds.
When speaking with students, Ed is likely to counsel them to follow their passions. The Stevens community is grateful that the university is among the things Ed is passionate about. “Alumni involvement and support of Stevens helps to guide students and other alumni with career advice, and with paths to employment and educational opportunities,” he says. “Alumni also provide important financial support that strengthens the university.”
“I am very honored to be recognized with this award,” Ed says. The SAA is equally honored to acknowledge Ed’s longstanding commitment to Stevens.