Science / Medicine

Born: 1924
Occupation: Electrical engineer

In 1957 Bakken developed the first wearable, transistorized external cardiac pacemaker. Medtronic began to manufacture the Chardack-Greatbatch implantable pulse generator in 1960. Bakken's collection of early scientific instruments and rare books about electricity, magnetism and medicine form the core of the collection of the Bakken: A Library and Museum of Electricity in Life.

Borlaug received his bachelor's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his research in hybridizing wheat to increase crop yields. For his work in this area, he became known as the father of the Green Revolution.

Cray is known as the father of supercomputers. Working for William Norris at Control Data Corp., Cray created the first computers to use transistors instead of vacuum tubes and developed the first high-speed computers. He started Cray Research in 1972. The firm eventually filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Silicon Graphics in 1996.

Davis developed the technology to make taconite mining commercially feasible. He was director of the University of Minnesota's Mine Experiment Station and later became a technical consultant for the Reserve Mining Company. The first commercial taconite plant in Silver Bay, Minn., was named the E.W. Davis Works.

A St. Paul native who began his career at 3M in 1921 as a lab technician, Drew first developed a masking tape to be used by auto body painters. Drew kept working on an improved tape product and eventually invented an adhesive-coated cellophane tape which 3M manufactured in 1930. Drew had 30 patents filed in his name.

A former race car driver and mechanic, Jones was a self-taught engineer who created the first mechanical refrigeration system for trucks in 1935. Some of Jones' other inventions were a portable x-ray machine, an air conditioning unit for military field hospitals and a refrigerator for military field kitchens. A total of 61 patents were issued in Jones' name.

Sister Kenny came to Minnesota in 1940 with new methods for treating polio. She established the Sister Kenny Institute in 1942. She went against traditional treatments for polio and urged that the stricken limbs be exercised. This procedure opened the modern-day era of rehabilitation medicine.

Lillehei performed the first successful open heart surgery as a professor at the University of Minnesota. He was a leading figure in the development of the battery-powered pacemaker and other medical devices. Other heart surgeons trained under Lillehei and continue his work today.