Background
Bakken, Earl Elmer was born on January 10, 1924 in Minneapolis. Son of Osval Elmer and Florence (Hendricks) Bakken.
electrical engineer company executive
Bakken, Earl Elmer was born on January 10, 1924 in Minneapolis. Son of Osval Elmer and Florence (Hendricks) Bakken.
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 1948; postgraduate in electrical engineering, University of Minnesota Doctor of Science (honorary), University Minnesota, 1988; Doctor of Science (honorary), Tulane University, 1988.
He founded Medtronic, where he developed the first external, battery-operated, transistorized, wearable artificial pacemaker in 1957. Born in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, Bakken had a long-held fascination with electricity and electronics. A self-described "nerd", Bakken designed a rudimentary electroshock weapon in school to fend off bullies.
Post-World World War II hospitals were just starting to employ electronic equipment, but did not have staff to maintain and repair them.
In the 1950s, Doctor C. Walton Lillehei was performing life-saving surgery on children with blue baby syndrome. That surgery often left the children needing to be temporarily attached to a pacemaker.
The pacemakers at the time were large devices that required their own carts and relied on wall current for power. As a result of a power blackout on October 31, 1957, one of Doctor Lillehei"s young patients died.
Doctor Lillehei, who had worked with Bakken before, asked him the next day if he could solve the problem.
Four weeks after finding a circuit diagram for a metronome in Popular Electronics, Bakken delivered a battery-powered transistorized pacemaker about the size of a few decks of cards to Doctor Lillehei. After successfully testing the hand-made device in the laboratory, Bakken returned to create a refined model for patients. However, much to his astonishment, when he came in the next day, he found the pacemaker already in use on a patient.
(The Food and Drug Administration did not start regulating medical devices until 1976)
Over the next several years, Bakken and Medtronic worked with other doctors to develop fully implantable pacemakers, but they also veered toward bankruptcy.
He borrowed money that kept Medtronic going, but the bankruptcy near-miss drove Bakken to develop the Medtronic Mission, which still guides the company. The mission helped the young company to stay focused on areas where it could truly help patients.
Bakken retired from Medtronic in 1989 and moved to a 9-acre estate in the Kona District of Hawaii he calls Bakken Hale, but still returns to the company several times a year to meet new employees and explain the Medtronic Mission to them in person. In 1996 he helped to dedicate the North Hawaii Community Hospital and has been active there ever since, working to combine Eastern and Western approaches to medicine to develop a more holistic approach to health care.
President, board directors Bakken Library. and Museum Electricity in Life, Minneapolis, 1975-1994, vice president, since 1994. President North Hawaii Community Hospital, 1990-2000, Five Mtn. Medical Community, Waimea, Hawaii, since 1997.
Vice chairman Pavek Museum Broadcasting, Minneapolis, since 1989. Chairman board directors Archaeus Project, Waimea, Hawaii, since 1985. Staff sergeant United States Army Air Force, 1942-1946.
Fellow Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Centennial medal 1984, Eli Lilly award in medical and biological engineering 1994), Bakken Society, Instrument society American, American College Cardiology (honorary), International College Surgeons (honorary). Member North America Society Pacing and Electrophysiology (associate, Distinguished Service award 1985), Association Advancement Medical Instrumentation (Texas Heart Institute Innovator award 1998), American Antiquarian Society, Minnesota Medical Alley Association (board directors 1985-1994), National Academy of Engineering, since 1990.
Married Constance L. Olson, September 11, 1948 (divorced May 1979). Children: Wendy, Jeff, Brad, Pam. Married Doris Jane Marshall, October 21, 1982.