South Bend resident Townsend Thomas, president of Syscon International, Inc., will receive the E.M. Morris Award for 2004 from the School of Business and Economics of Indiana University South Bend.

The award will be presented at the school’s annual Honors Day Luncheon on April 4 in the Associates Building on Ruskin Street. The E.M. Morris Award honors a Michiana businessperson whose achievements and leadership have contributed to the advancement of business and the quality of life in the Michiana area. The award was established in 1975.

He earned a bachelor’s of science degree in electrical engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit. He has also completed graduate courses towards a master’s of science degree in electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin and a master’s of science degree in computer science at Indiana University South Bend.

Thomas has been the president of Syscon International since 1974 and is on the board of directors of Ajay Syscon Private Limited, Pune, India, and Chipco Corp., of Elkhart.

Prior to purchasing Syscon, he was a member of the U.S. Army and an electrical engineer with both Bendix and Honeywell corporations, chief engineer with Louis Allis Company, and general manager of Weltek Division of Wells Electronic, Inc.

Active in the community, Thomas is past chair of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, Indiana Electronic Manufacturing Association (IEMA) and Northern Indiana Workforce Development Board. He is a past council member of Christ the King Lutheran Church and a life member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, American Society of Metals, Society of the Plastic Engineers, Instrument Control Society and the American Foundry Society. He has served as a scoutmaster in Brookfield, Wisc., and Granger.

Thomas received the IEMA Distinguished Service Award and the Boy Scouts of America Order of the Arrow. He is the co-author of the Society of the Plastic Industry-Euromap Communications Protocol, which is a computer-to-computer exchange of information.