“What Are You Doing With Your Extra Life?”

- An invitation from Earl Bakken, co-founder, Medtronic, Inc.

Inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, patient, dreamer. Throughout his life, Earl Bakken has used his talents to help others.
He may be best known for developing the first external, battery-powered, transistorized, wearable pacemaker, an invention that has saved millions of lives and shaped the modern medical device industry.
He co-founded Medtronic, which today is the world’s leading medical device company. Every three seconds, a Medtronic product or therapy helps someone, somewhere in the world.
Earl also benefits from medical technology. He openly acknowledges that his pacemaker, insulin pump and heart stents have given him 10+ years of “extra life,” time he has put to good use, with heavy community involvement in both Minnesota and Hawaii.
Earl knows the gift of extra life is powerful. And while each person chooses how to use their extra time, it is his enduring hope they consider how to give back… in big or small ways.
That’s the Bakken Invitation Award.