John DeFord
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
BD
BSEE 1984, MSEE 1985, PhD EE 1990
“Engineering forms the foundation of our world’s infrastructure and touches aspect of our lives. Through STEM and engineering training, today’s engineer may find herself designing a new transportation vehicle, creating a life saving new technology, at the forefront of new energy or food sources or enhancing the communities we share. I am grateful for the Purdue faculty who give opportunities to young minds everyday (like Dr. Leslie A. Geddes did for me all those years ago). I seek to extend that legacy in industry. We cannot start early enough in promoting engineering education. The sky is no longer the limit."
Dr. John DeFord earned three degrees from Purdue University, a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1984, an MS in Electrical Engineering in 1985, and a Ph.D. in Electrical/Biomedical Engineering in 1990. He is Executive Vice President, and Chief Technology Officer for BD. DeFord joined BD in December of 2017 with the company’s acquisition of Bard. From December of 2017 through May of 2018, he served as Senior Vice President, R&D for BD Interventional. DeFord was promoted to Executive Vice President and CTO on June 1, 2018. Before the acquisition, he was Senior Vice President, Science, Technology and Clinical Affairs at Bard. DeFord joined C. R. Bard, Inc. as Vice President of Science and Technology in late January of 2004 and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Science, Technology and Clinical Affairs in 2007.
Before joining Bard, DeFord was Managing Director of Early Stage Partners, a Midwest Venture Capital Fund. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Cook Incorporated, a multi-hundred million dollar privately held medical device manufacturer.
Currently, DeFord is a member of the NuVasive, Inc. Board of Directors (Nasdaq: NUVA), holds 13 patents, and is the author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters.