Founder of Merit Medical in 1987, Chairman, President and CEO. Formerly Chairman and President of Utah Medical, Salt Lake City, Utah. Fred Lampropoulos has been in the medical device business over 20 years. He is the inventor or co-inventor on more than 100 patents of devices used in the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of cardiovascular disease. In 1993 Mr. Lampropoulos received Salt Lake City's Entrepreneur of the Year award for his contributions to the medical device industry and Merit Medical. He was recently honored as Father of the Year for Utah, sponsored by the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association has designated him as a "Heart of Utah" for 2003