earl e. bakken timeline · dr. c. walton lillehei at the university of minnesota hospital begins...

Earl E. Bakken Life Timeline

1924 - 1933Earl Elmer Bakken born to Florence and Osval Bakken on January 10, 1924.

Fascination with electricity, even as a toddler: wires, cords, plugs, connectors.

Age 8: Inspired by the 1931 movie Frankenstein, and the idea of life restoration

by electricity.

Age 9: Builds a telephone system that stretched across the street to a friend’s house.

Makes model train from Erector Set. Collects trains throughout life.

Conceives a series of underground caves with passageways. Draws plans and digs tunnels with

buddies.

1934 - 1939Builds a radio from a crystal set.

Builds a five-foot-tall robot that blinked its eyes, brandished a knife, talked (via a remote-controlled speaker), and puffed on

hand-rolled cigarettes.

1940 - 1943Builds a homemade Taser-like device to keep the bullies away.

Told by minister to “use science to benefit humankind, not for destructive purposes.”

Draws plans for radios, rocket ships, and futuristic houses with all the

electrical wiring in place. In his adult years, he actually builds and lives in

such a house, in an “impossible spot” on Hawaii Island.

Invents the Kiss-O-Meter to measure the emotional connection of a kiss.

Earl E. Bakken Timeline http://www.earlbakken.com/content/timeline/timeline.main.html

1 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

Begins a series of trick photographs using special darkroom effects.

Age 18: Earl’s sister Marjorie is born.

1944 - 1953Serves as an airborne radar maintenance instructor in Florida during WWII.

Age 24: Earl marries Connie Olson, September 11, 1948.

Earl graduates from the University of Minnesota, December 1948.

Twinco, Earl’s first company, begins phono/record production with local singer Slim Jim, the Vagabond Kid. One

Bakelite record is made.

Age 25: April 29, 1949, Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie form partnership to service medical electronic

equipment. Company is called “Medtronic.” First month’s income is eight dollars.

Age 28: Earl’s daughter Wendy is born.

1954 - 1959Dr. C. Walton Lillehei at the University of Minnesota Hospital begins operating on “blue babies” born with a heart defect causing

poor circulation that gives a bluish tint to the skin.

Age 31: Earl’s son Jeff is born.

Age 33: On October 31, 1957, a blackout in the Twin Cities raises the question of how to ensure a

consistent power supply for the treatment of “blue babies.” Dr. Lillehei asks Earl if Medtronic can

solve the problem. One month later, Medtronic delivers the first wearable, battery-powered,

transistorized cardiac pacemaker.

Age 34: Earl’s son Brad is born.

Medtronic gross sales are $181,000 for the fiscal year 1959-60.

1960 - 1963Composes Medtronic Mission Statement.


2 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

Initiates the annual holiday program at Medtronic.

Mission and Medallion program begins for all new employees of Medtronic.

The Medtronic St. Anthony facility opens. Medtronic’s proprietary line consists of thirteen devices.

Age 38: Earl’s daughter Pamela is born.

1964 - 1973Builds the “Mousenik” for chronobiology study with Dr. Franz Halberg.

Becomes hooked on ballroom dancing after taking lessons to prepare for the Medtronic holiday program.

Envisions new products using electricity for all parts of the body.

Medtronic begins globalization in 1967 by opening a sales office in Amsterdam.

1970: Palmer Hermundslie, Earl’s brother-in-law and Medtronic co-founder, dies.

1974 - 1979Age 50: Medtronic’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Company markets directly in more than seventy

countries.

Age 51: Founds The Bakken Museum.

Age 53: Medtronic listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Establishment of The Bakken Society.

1980 - 1983Receives the Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota.

Age 58: Earl marries Doris Marshall at Kona Village Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Founds the Archaeus Project.

Helps establish the Continuum Project.


3 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

1984 - 1985Age 60: Receives Centennial Medal, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Receives “Engineering for Gold” Award, National Society of Professional Engineers.

Receives Med-Tech Outstanding Achievement Award.

Helps champion and form Minnesota’s Medical Alley (now called LifeScience Alley).

Age 61: Medtronic first appears on the Fortune 500.

Receives Distinguished Service Award, North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (now Heart Rhythm Society).

1986 - 1987Helps form the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting.

Receives Centennial Medal, University of St. Thomas.

Receives honorary Doctor of Science degrees, Tulane University and the University of Minnesota.

1988 - 1989Receives Achievement Award, Leadership in the Business Application of Science and Technology,

Science Museum of Minnesota.

Receives Governor’s Award for Medical Leadership, Minnesota Medical Alley Association (now

LifeScience Alley).

Receives Outstanding Minnesotan of the Year Award, Minnesota Broadcasters

Association.

Named Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau (Royal decoration, The Netherlands) by Queen Beatrix of The

Netherlands.

Age 65: Retires from Medtronic January 10, 1989, his birthday.


4 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

Participates in an expedition to Baja, California, to record the electrocardiogram of the California gray

whale.

Age 65: Moves to a dreamt-of destination at Kiholo Bay on Hawaii Island.

1990 - 1993Begins involvement with the creation of North Hawaii Community Hospital and Friends of the

Future.

Age 66: Writes and publishes Reflections on Leadership.

Medtronic sales reach one billion dollars.

Becomes honorary Fellow, American College of Cardiology.

Receives Lifetime Achievement Award, Entrepreneur of the Year Institute, Minnesota.

Becomes honorary Fellow, International College of Surgeons.

1994 - 1995Receives Eli Lilly Award in Medical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Age 70: Retires as a member of the Medtronic Board of Directors.

Age 71: Earl’s mother, Florence, dies at age ninety-four.

Receives Special Service Award, Richard Smart Big Island Community Achievement, Waimea, Hawaii.

Elected to the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame.

Receives an honorary Doctor of Science degree, Albany College of Pharmacy.

Founds Five Mountains Hawaii organization for community health improvement on Hawaii Island.

1996 - 1999


5 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

Receives Lifetime Achievement Award, Minnesota High Technology Council.

Receives Lifetime Creative Achievement Award, American Creativity Association.

Age 73: Governor Benjamin Cayetano proclaims November 28, 1997, “Earl and Doris Bakken Day” in

Hawaii.

Receives the Texas Heart Institute Innovator Award.

Receives Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Laufman-Greatbatch Award.

Autobiography: One Man’s Full Life is published.

Receives Pioneering Award for Contributions to the Fields of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology,

North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology.

Named Living Treasure of Hawaii by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii.

Receives International Milestone of Electrical Engineering, IEEE.

Awarded the Gold Medal of the European Society of Cardiology.

2000Named Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year, National Philanthropy Society, Aloha (Hawaii) Chapter.

Receives Tekne Lifetime Achievement Award, Minnesota High Technology Association.

2001 - 2003Age 77: Receives Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, National Academy of Engineering, with Wilson

Greatbatch.

Receives Kakoo ia Kalanianaole Award, Outstanding Non-Hawaiian for Service to the Hawaiian

Community, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

Receives Trailblazer Award, Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine.

Receives Innovator’s Award, Phoenix Medical Device Conference.


6 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

2004 - 2005Receives Lillehei Heart Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, University of Minnesota.

Receives honorary Doctorate in Human Letters degree, University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Named honorary Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Age 80: Creates the new field of Heart-Brain Medicine and founds Institute with

the Cleveland Clinic.

Given title of Alii Nui (conferred by Hawaiian leaders). Receives symbolic carved fishhook.

Receives honorary membership into the Royal Order of King Kamehameha I as Alii Kahuna Laau Lapaau.

Receives Distinguished Fellow for Life Award, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation 1921 Society.

2006Granted U.S. Patent No. 7,133,718 for chronobiological

pacemaker, along with three other Medtronic scientists.

Featured on the Wall of Discovery at the University of Minnesota

for invention of transistorized, wearable pacemaker.

2007Medtronic celebrates Fifty Years of Pacing. Receives honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from

the University of Minnesota Medical School, the first in the school’s 120-year history.

Age 83: Receives Pavek Museum Hall of Fame 2007 Distinguished Service Award.

Receives seventh annual Lifetime Achievement Award, New Cardiovascular Horizons.


7 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

2008Receives Visionary Caring Science Award, Watson Science Institute.

Receives honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Earl’s eighty-fifth Birthday Bash at the historic Heights Theater, Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

2009Receives Contribution to Reforming American Healthcare Through Innovative

Thinking and a Personal Desire to Improve

Quality of Life Award, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Receives 2009 James H. Suva Memorial Award, Minnesota Medical Association.

Second life-sized bronze statue of Earl unveiled at Medtronic.

Neuromodulation headquarters opens in Rice Creek, Minnesota.

2010Receives Dwight Emary Harken Award for excellence in the field of cardiovascular medicine, from

Mended Hearts.

Receives the first Spirit of the Center Award, University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing.

2011Receives Advancing Safety in Medical Technology Leadership and Achievement Award, Association for

the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

Members of the original Medtronic Garage Gang film oral history interviews at Medtronic World

Headquarters.


8 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

2012Receives fifth annual Alumni of Distinction Award from his alma mater, Columbia Heights High

School.

2013Celebrates The Bakken Invitation Live On, Give On honorees, in Hawaii.

The inaugural group of 10 recipients visited Hawaii Island in November2013 for their awards event with Earl. Their experience, according tothem, was life changing. Pictured here after they volunteered service toprepare Makalii while in dry dock for her next voyage.

Bakken Invitation program

For several years Earl has been asking people who receive "extra life" from their medical devices or therapies, "What are you

going to do with your extra life in service to others and the world?" Inspired by his wisdom, Medtronic Philanthropy launched a

program in 2013 - The Bakken Inviation - to honor people who are extraordinary examples of Living On and Giving On.

www.liveongiveon.com

2014


9 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

Earl with his cake on his 90thBirthday

Earl Receives AdvaMed LifetimeAchievement Award.

Earl was honored witha Bowl of Light which

signifies, in theHawaiian culture, a life

of good deeds.

Celebrates ninetieth birthday in Hawaii with family and friends from around the world.

Inducted as a Knight of Grace by the Order of St. John.

Receives AdvaMed Lifetime Achievement Award.

Begins construction on new solar array for Kiholo home in Hawaii.

Medtronic 49,000 strong, seventeen billion dollars in sales, reaching ten-and-one-half million patients, and improving a life

every three seconds.

Medtronic initiates acquisition of Covidien.

Completes second book, Dreaming On With Earl Bakken.

Download Timeline as PDF (805 KB)

Back to Top of Page


10 of 10 2/20/15, 12:14 AM

earl e. bakken timeline · dr. c. walton lillehei at the university of minnesota hospital begins...

Documents