MAY 2008: See IEEE Oral History video with Earl Bakken

DECEMBER 2007: Earl Bakken celebrates 50 Years of Pacing with Medtronic, Inc. and the University of Minnesota, and receives an Honorary M.D.

Only rarely in life do you have the opportunity to meet a true pioneer, a person who, through his vision, inspiration, courage, and leadership, can change the course of human history.

Earl Bakken is such a person.

He not only invented the world’s first wearable, battery-operated external pacemaker, he helped launch the modern medical-technology industry. Through his leadership, he enabled millions of people with life-threatening illnesses to be restored to full life and health. He founded and led the world’s leading medical-technology company, Medtronic, Inc. And now, in his eighth decade, he is pioneering again, creating entirely new forms of healing.

As is evident throughout his life and works, Earl Bakken is a visionary: a man who can dream of a future unthinkable to others and then lead people to enable his dream to become a reality. Earl’s dreams are often so advanced that others scoff at them, or simply ignore him. They do so at their peril, for Earl has spent a lifetime making his dreams come true.

He is a man of paradox: an engineer who envisions a world of “high-touch” integrated healing, a leader who inspires others, but lets them do their own thing, an introvert who will happily stand on a convention floor for 12 hours at a time, talking to other dreamers and prospective users of his ideas.

What are the qualities that have allowed Earl Bakken to accomplish so much in his lifetime? He has deep technical knowledge, but so do many other engineers who never reach beyond the confines of their laboratories. He has vision, but so do many others whose ideas never come to fruition. He has leadership skill, but the world is filled with leaders who never go beyond a single major accomplishment.

What makes Earl unique is his soul.

Earl is a man with a mission to use science to benefit humankind, an idea he received from his pastor in his early teenage years and from which he has never deviated. He has a deep sense of spiritual calling, an understanding of his purpose on this earth.

And, more than any person I have ever met, Earl is totally devoted to his calling. Nothing can cause him to deviate or to give up. Money, fame, glory…Earl has all of these, but none is really important to him. He conveys his mission to everyone he meets, and he openly, yet modestly, asks them to join him on his journey.

It is this journey that you are now priviledge to explore on this website. As you do so, join the thousands of others who have been inspired by Earl's life, work and the visions he has made reality.

(Forward (edited) by Bill George, former Chairman & CEO, Medtronic, Inc. from "One Man's Full Life. " First banner photo coutesy of Alvin Upitis.)