The Wallace H. Coulter Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to improving human healthcare by supporting translational research in biomedical engineering - research directed at the transfer of promising technologies within the university research laboratory that are progressing toward commercial development and clinical practice.

Wallace H. Coulter was an engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur who applied engineering principles to a biomedical problem. He founded Coulter Corporation, which developed and marketed the first automated blood cell counters and flow cytometers - instruments that revolutionized healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics. Coulter Corporation became the global inudstry leader; its mission of "Science Serving Humanity" was based on Wallace's belief that laboratory discoveries must be developed into commercially viable products in order to truly benefit humanity. Believing that the contributions of engineers to solving biomedical problems were generally under-recognized, Wallace mentored and encouraged young engineers to dream, take risks, and be innovative.