Tobin VanPelt '89

Inducted 2019 

TOBIN VANPELT ‘89 - A 3-sport Trojan standout, Dr. VanPelt excelled in football, basketball and track and field.  On the gridiron, Toby played QB and DB, earning all-Big 9 and all-state honors en route to a bid to play in the 1989 East/West All Star Football game.  On the hardwood, he was a two-time all-Big 9 performer (point guard) for the 1989 district champion Trojans. Dr. VanPelt made his biggest mark on the runway as a pole vaulter for the Trojans’ track and field team.  Prior to earning a scholarship to vault for the Michigan Wolverines, Toby was a two-time state champion (1988/89) setting a state record, school record (16’ ½”) and becoming the first vaulter in Michigan history to clear 16 feet.  

While in Ann Arbor (1989-93), VanPelt laid claim to the 2nd highest jump in UM history with a mark of 17’ 4 ¾ “.  Toby also cleared the bar in the classroom, earning academic all-Big Ten honors four times, and being awarded the prestigious, Conference Medal of Honor in 1994 awarded to the top student-athletes in the Big Ten.  Following his glowing athletic career, VanPelt went on to earn four engineering degrees from UM, including a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering.

Dr. VanPelt co-founded three software technology companies in Silicon Valley while working for Lockheed Martin within both the intelligence space and Radical Innovation Technology Center.  Toby has also Thru-hiked 2,480 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, spanning 155 days in the summer of 2009. Dr. VanPelt resides in Mill Valley, California with his wife Trina and sons Boden and Calum.