Gary K. Michelson

Gary K. Michelson
Born (1949-01-14) January 14, 1949
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Residence Los Angeles, CA
Nationality United States
Ethnicity Jewish
Alma mater B.A. Temple University
M.D. Hahnemann Medical College
Occupation Medical device inventor/Philanthropist
Net worth Increase US $ 1.5 billion (Sept 2013)[1]
Spouse(s) Alya Michelson
Children 3

Gary K. Michelson (born January 14, 1949) is an American board certified orthopedic spinal surgeon, inventor, and philanthropist.

Early life and education

One of four boys, Michelson was raised by his mother and grandmother. Witnessing the effects of his grandmother's spinal deformity as a boy motivated him to pursue medicine as a career, with a specialty in spine problems. He attended Central High School of Philadelphia, Temple University and Hahnemann Medical College. He completed his medical residency in orthopedic surgery at Hahnemann Medical Hospital, before completing fellowship training in spinal surgery at St. Luke’s Medical Center in a joint program between Baylor University and the University of Texas. He was a practicing spinal surgeon for over 25 years before retiring from private practice to focus on philanthropy. He amassed over 100 research papers and publications to his credit.

He is of Jewish heritage.[2]

Medical innovations

Unhappy with the low success rates associated with spinal surgery procedures at the beginning of his career, he developed new technology in response, creating implants, instruments and procedures that would enable spinal surgeons to manage more spinal ailments. "Michelson devices" have been implanted globally in hundreds of thousands of patients. He has over 250 U.S. Patents on instruments, methods and devices for advances in spinal and orthopedic surgery and over 950 issued or pending patents worldwide for instruments, operative procedures, and medical devices related to the treatment of spinal disorders.

In 2005, Michelson sold many of his spine related patents to Medtronic for over $1 billion,[3] placing him on the Forbes 400 list where he has since remained.[4] A legal battle with Medtronic over the origins of the patents preceded the sale. Michelson successfully cross-filed in response to Medtronic's suit against him. His defense against Medtronic's suit established a major legal precedent in 2003, governing who bears the cost of pre-trial discovery of electronic evidence.[5]

Philanthropy

Michelson announced his intent to launch a medical philanthropic venture in a 2005 New York Times article, at that time planning to apply at least $200 million to explore and scale leading edge medical technology, like nanotechnology and stem cell research. The Michelson Medical Research Foundation was founded that year, with an initial contribution of $100 million. [6] The nonprofit does not accept donations.

Michelson also created the Twenty Million Minds Foundation [7] a comprehensive library of higher education textbooks in an open education platform, and the Found Animals Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation dedicated to animal welfare.[8]

In 2008, Michelson's Found Animals foundation launched the Michelson Prize and Grants in Reproductive Biology[9][10] an international competition with a 25 million dollar prize that represents a unique experiment in innovation aimed at solving the problem of pet overpopulation. His goal is to encourage researchers from a wide variety of scientific fields to take on the challenge of non-surgical pet sterilization. Recognizing that interested parties may not have access to funds the research and testing would require, also offered is the companion Michelson Grants in Reproductive Biology that will provide up to $50 million in funding for promising research. The Michelson Prize seeks to make sterilization accessible and affordable worldwide and aid developing countries where this problem is even greater.

Through his foundations, Dr. Michelson has donated over 100 million dollars for medical research, over ten million dollars in helping to convert municipal animal services into adoption centers and providing no cost spay and neuter services to low income households. In a program directly acknowledged by the L.A. Mayor’s office, Dr. Michelson’s Found Animals Foundation paid for all the costs of anyone who would rescue a dog or cat scheduled for euthanasia. It is estimated that Dr. Michelson has devoted a total of $300 million to various causes.[7]

In January 2014 it was announced that Michelson gifted $50 million to the University of Southern California for the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience.[11] [12] [13]

In the December 2015 issue of Forbes Magazine, Gary K. Michelson was featured alongside Warren Buffett, William A. Ackman, Michael Milken, Michael J. Fox as one of "10 People with Big Ideas to Change the World". [14]

Personal life

He is divorced from his first wife and now lives in Los Angeles with his second wife Alya, and their three children.[15][16]

Awards and honors

Articles and speaking engagements

References

  1. Forbes: The World's Billionaires - Gary Michelson September 2013
  2. Forbes Israel: Jewish Billionaires - Profile of Gary Michelson April 14, 2013 (in Hebrew)
  3. Pollack, Andrew (April 23, 2005). "Medtronic to Pay $1.35 Billion to Inventor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  4. Whelan, David (October 6, 2008). "Animal Nut". Forbes. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  5. "5 Costly Moments in Electronic Discovery: A rundown on the precedents that shaped the landscape for litigators.". The National Law Journal. February 10, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  6. "What We Do". Michelson Medical Research Foundation. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  7. 1 2 Helfand, Duke (June 5, 2011). "How I Made It: Dr. Gary Michelson". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  8. Peters, Sharon L. (October 15, 2008). "Inventor Michelson offers a $75 million prize in a sterilization innovation contest, to create more effective and wide spread spaying and neutering of pets, with the ultimate goal of curbing animal overpopulation.". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  9. "The Michelson Prize & Grants in Reproductive Biology". Found Animals. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  10. Grimm, David (September 18, 2009). "A Cure for Euthanasia?". Science 325 (5947): 1490–1493. doi:10.1126/science.325_1490. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  11. "USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience". Michelson Medical Research Foundation. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  12. Perkins, Robert (January 13, 2014). "$50 million gift funds new building for convergent bioscience research at USC". USC News. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  13. Gordon, Larry (January 13, 2014). "Surgeon and inventor gives $50 million for USC building". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  14. Brown, Abram (November 23, 2015). "Buffett, Ackman, Milken, Michael J. Fox! 10 People With Big Ideas To Change the World". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  15. Cole, Yoji (January 1, 2014). "Gary Michelson: A Beautiful Mind". C-Suite Quarterly. Archive.org. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  16. "Gary Karlin Michelson, M.D. [Bio]". Michelson 20 Milion Minds Foundation. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  17. "IPO Foundation elects Foreman, Michel and Michelson to Board". Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation. July 23, 2010. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  18. Quinn, Gene (May 5, 2011). "Celebrating Heroes of Invention at the Temple of Innovation". IP Watchdog. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
  19. "Gary K. Michelson; Awards & Honors". Michelson Medical Research Foundation. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  20. Jones, Christopher Edward (June 25, 2015). "SABIN Humanitarian Award 2015: Gary K. Michelson". Michelson Medical Research Foundation. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  21. Toves, Kelly (March 25, 2015). "Dr. Gary Michelson Receives Albert B. Sabin Humanitarian Award". SABIN Vaccine Institute. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  22. Hecht, Albert (July 18, 2013). "Dr. Gary Michelson Funding The Developement Of A Soil-Transmitted Helminth Vaccine Discovery Program". Jewish Business News. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  23. Kirik, Cathie. "California Regional Independent Inventors Conference Speakers". Inventors Eye [USPTO]. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  24. Michelson, Gary (February 25, 2011). "Gary Michelson’s Letter to Congress Supporting Patent Reform". IP Watchdog. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  25. Eisner, Walter (September 21, 2011). "Historic Patent Reform Bill Signed Into Law". Orthopedics this Week. Archive.org. Retrieved 2016-01-26.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.