- Person
- Alfred E. Mann
- Lived
- 1925–2016
- Field
- Medical devices
- From
- American
The story
Alfred E. Mann was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1925 to a Jewish immigrant family; his father was a grocer from England and his mother a pianist and singer from Poland. After studying physics at UCLA he founded Spectrolab in 1956, which with its sister company Heliotek supplied solar cells that powered more than 100 spacecraft.
In 1969 researchers at Johns Hopkins asked him to help make pacemakers last longer, since worn-out batteries forced patients to undergo repeated surgery. Mann founded Pacesetter Systems, which introduced the first commercial rechargeable implantable pacemaker. He sold the company to Siemens in 1985.
In 1979 a doctor challenged him to work on diabetes. Mann founded MiniMed, which became the leading maker of insulin pumps, wearable devices that deliver insulin continuously, and later of continuous glucose monitors. Medtronic bought MiniMed in 2001 for more than 3 billion dollars, and pumps and sensors developed from that work are used by people with diabetes around the world.
His company Advanced Bionics made cochlear implants, which stimulate the hearing nerve directly and allow many deaf children and adults to hear speech. Second Sight Medical Products, which he founded and chaired, won U.S. approval in 2013 for the Argus II, described by USC as the first artificial retina approved in the United States and the European Economic Area; it gives some sight back to people blinded by retinitis pigmentosa. Other ventures worked on electrical stimulation for paralysed limbs.
Mann also used his fortune to help other inventors. He gave more than 170 million dollars to the University of Southern California, starting with a 100 million dollar gift in 1998, to create the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering, which helps carry university inventions through to products, and founded a similar institute at the Technion in Israel. Mann was a businessman who became a billionaire, and not every venture succeeded, but the devices his companies brought to market reach patients worldwide.
Why it matters
Insulin pumps, cochlear implants and long-lasting pacemakers from companies Mann founded help people around the world manage diabetes, hear, and keep their hearts beating steadily.
About Alfred E. Mann
Physicist and entrepreneur whose companies brought rechargeable pacemakers, insulin pumps, cochlear implants and an artificial retina to patients, and who endowed biomedical institutes.
Sources
- Alfred E. Mann, 90, pioneer in medical devices Boston Globe
- In memoriam: USC trustee, entrepreneur Alfred E. Mann, 90 USC News
- Alfred Mann obituary Jewish Journal
- Alfred E. Mann Wikipedia
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