[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 84 (Monday, May 18, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2324-S2325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       TRIBUTE TO THOMAS J. FOLTZ

 Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a remarkable 
Hoosier, Mr. Thomas J. Foltz of Indianapolis, IN, who celebrates his 
80th birthday today. Tom's life is a testament to the very best of what 
our State has produced: a deep faith, an inquisitive mind, an 
entrepreneurial spirit, and an unwavering commitment to family, 
community, and country. He has spent nearly every chapter of his life 
in Indiana, and our State is better for it. At his side for 46 years 
has been his beloved wife Becky, whom he married in December of 1979 
and who has been his steadfast partner in every endeavor since.
  Born in Indianapolis, Tom is a proud graduate of Rose-Hulman 
Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, where he earned both his 
bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics. Before the ink was dry 
on his diploma, he had taken his talents to Cape Canaveral, supporting 
pre-launch electrical systems for the Saturn V program at NASA's 
Kennedy Space Center, work that helped carry American astronauts to the 
Moon. He returned home to Indiana and spent the next several decades at 
the forefront of the computing revolution: developing algorithms at 
General Motors, engineering systems at Blue Cross Blue Shield of 
Indiana and Indiana Bell Telephone, and presenting at international IBM 
conferences on mainframe performance. In 1979, he founded Total 
Systems, Inc., an Indianapolis-based technology firm he has now led for 
more than 45 years, serving clients across the Midwest in 
manufacturing, distribution, government, and the nonprofit sector.

[[Page S2325]]

  But Tom did not stop there. For more than 15 years, he has poured his 
expertise back into the next generation of Hoosiers as an adjunct 
professor of mathematics, statistics, and computer science at multiple 
Indiana institutions: Butler University, Grace College, Indiana 
University, Ivy Tech Community College, Marian University, Purdue 
University, the University of Indianapolis, and Franklin University. In 
2013, he received Franklin University's Teaching Excellence Award. His 
students describe his classroom as warm, rigorous, and unforgettable. 
He has taken mathematics, a subject many find daunting, and made it 
accessible, even joyful, for thousands of students preparing for 
careers across our State. Alongside his teaching, Tom has given decades 
of his time to civic life as a Marion County Republican precinct 
committeeman and ward chairman, as an elected delegate to numerous 
Indiana Republican conventions, and as a lay speaker in his community 
on matters of faith. I have had the privilege of meeting Tom on several 
occasions at political gatherings across the Hoosier State, and each 
encounter has confirmed for me what so many Hoosiers already know: He 
is a man of conviction, intellect, and good humor.
  Together, Tom and Becky have built a beautiful family. Their children 
Jonathan and Jennifer and their grandchildren Ella, Asher, and Aiden 
are a living legacy of the values Tom has spent 80 years cultivating: 
integrity, hard work, service, and faith. On behalf of a grateful 
State, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing Thomas J. Foltz a very 
happy 80th birthday and in thanking him for a lifetime of contributions 
to the people of Indiana and to our great Nation.

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