DONALD C. WETZEL’46 2003 ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR Donald C. Wetzel of the Class of 1946 has been named the 2003 Alumnus of the Year of Jesuit High School. Wetzel, a native of New Orleans who currently resides in Dallas, Texas, is credited with being the inventor of the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). Wetzel graduated from Jesuit in 1946 and in 1951 earned a bachelor of business administration degree from Loyola of New Orleans. That same year Wetzel began a career with IBM. After a seventeen-year stint with that corporation, Wetzel moved to the Docutel Corporation where in 1968 he immediately made his mark with his invention, one that literally has changed the way we live our lives and handle our money. In 1973 Wetzel left Docutel to found the Financial Systems and Equipment Corporation, the Electronic Banking Systems Corporation, and Autosig Systems, Inc. He retired in 1989. Throughout his life Donald Wetzel has been involved in many civic and educational endeavors. He served as a ten-year member and past president of the board of directors of the Jesuit Montserrat Retreat House and was a member of the original school board of Bishop Lynch High School. Presently he is the president of the board of the Catholic Conference and Formation Center for the Diocese of Dallas and is a member of the advisory board of the St. Francis Xavier Society. He also serves as the vice-president of vocations for the Metropolitan Serra Club of Dallas. He is involved in various ministries at his church parish. As a student at Jesuit, Wetzel was a standout shortstop on the baseball team. He captained the undefeated state championship team in prep that went on to win the national title in the American Legion World Series. He continued his baseball career as a professional in the New York Giants farm system. The Diamond Club of Greater New Orleans inducted Wetzel into its Hall of Fame in 1996. Wetzel’s first wife, Gladys, died in 1970. He and his second wife, Eleanor, have been married for thirty-one years. Wetzel has twelve children and forty-one grandchildren. Wetzel will receive the Alumnus of the Year award during the Homecoming Mass on October 19 in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs on the campus of Jesuit High School.