Paul Andrews

Andrews, founder and CEO of TTI Inc., knew there was a growing market for electronics components and began selling parts out of his Fort Worth garage as Tex-Tronics. It was 1971 and the gig was meant to be a short-term operation to bring in a little income while he looked for a more permanent job. Over 50 years Andrews grew TTI into an international company with more than 7,000 employees and over 130 locations in North America, Europe and Asia. Andrews died Sunday February 28 2021. He was 78. He graduated from Arlington Heights High School and attended the University of Texas and TCU. Andrews and his wife Judy contributed to TCU and Texas Wesleyan University, At TCU the couple contributed to the expansion of the school’s math and science institute, which is now the Andrews Institute of Mathematics & Science Education. They also provided an endowment gift to the John V. Roach Honors College. John Roach introduced Andrews to Warren Buffett in the mid-2000s. Roach, who was chairman and CEO of Tandy Corp. from 1983-1999, introduced Andrews to Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO, when Andrews expressed interest in selling TTI to ensure the company’s future, Roach said. Buffett purchased the company in 2007 when TTI had already grown to include several of its own subsidiaries, including Mouser Electronics, Sager Electronics and the TTI Semiconductor Group. Andrews remained CEO. In 1996 the couple funded the Paul and Judy Andrews Industrial Distribution Conference Center at Texas A&M and in 2011 Andrews established the Fund for Global Research and Education in Texas A&M’s Industrial Distribution Program. An avid car collector, Andrews also helped establish the Dr. Bob Woods Chair in Automotive Engineering at UT Arlington. The Paul E. Andrews Jr. Foundation has focused on education and health care initiatives in Fort Worth since 2007.