2023
Seeing a need, meeting it, and in the process changing lives around the world. Ginger and Walt Woltosz are known for their contagious winsome spirit and their united deep desire to make a profound impact in improving the lives of others.
When Ginger learned her mother had Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) in 1981, she asked Walt, working in the aerospace industry at the time, whether one of the new personal computers could be used to provide her mother a way to communicate. It was this family need that led Walt and Ginger to found the company Words+, Inc. and ultimately produce the first PC-based communication system for people with severe disabilities. The most public display of this life-altering communication system was seen through the work of arguably one of the world’s most renowned physicists, Professor Stephen Hawking. The Woltosz-created augmentative communication systems through Words+, Inc., allowed Hawking, considered a brilliant physicist, to continue sharing lectures and his expertise.
In 1983, Walt left the aerospace industry to become the full-time CEO of Words+ until 1996, when the passion he had developed in aerospace for computer simulation and modeling drove Walt to apply these technologies in healthcare. Walt and Ginger founded Simulations Plus, Inc. in 1996 and it was this venture that resulted in new software tools for pharmaceutical research and development which help to reduce drug development costs and minimize animal testing.
These impactful engineering and technological advances produced by the dynamic partnership of Ginger and Walt, are grounded in Walt’s engineering education at Auburn University and his service to his country in the Air Force Strategic Air Command. He completed his Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering degree at Auburn University in 1969, and Master of Science in aerospace engineering at Auburn University in 1977. Walt worked in the aerospace industry from 1971-1983 developing simulation and modeling software for the design of solid propellant rocket motors and missile systems, before he and Ginger teamed up to find solutions first for family and ultimately the world.
Always attracted to entertainment, Walt has served as a technical assistant on several films, appeared on screen in Hawking as himself and has written, directed and produced a full-length feature film as well as a second screenplay with his younger son, Daniel Woltosz, under Iron Compass Entertainment, LLC, formed in 2012.
Walt and Ginger’s love for Auburn University and the impact of their generosity can be seen across campus in multiple areas. One of their most recent areas of impact supports the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management while also providing what many call the most beautiful view of Auburn. The Walt and Ginger Woltosz Rooftop Terrace, Ginger’s Gardens, and Walt’s outdoor lounge area provide an outdoor classroom and a stunning gathering spot for the community atop the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center.
Walt and Ginger have five children and are proud grandparents to nine grandchildren. Their oldest grandchild is an Auburn graduate who is currently pursuing a law degree at William and Mary. The next two eldest grandchildren are currently students at Auburn University, and the next in line has received acceptance to Auburn with plans to begin their studies at AU next year. As Walt shared, “There seems to be a trend here!”
Previous Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
