Marquette Electronics Museum at Medical College dedicated
Official scissors ready for ribbon cutting. |
Jan. 2008 CVC UPBEAT - More than 350 guests attended the Nov. 19 opening of the Marquette Electronics Museum at the Medical College of Wisconsin, an archival collection of equipment that recognizes the historic contributions made by Marquette Electronics in the development of cardiovascular monitoring equipment.
Milwaukee entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Cudahy, co-founder and former Chairman and CEO of Marquette Electronics and a founding member of the Cardiovascular Center Advisory Board, donated the equipment to establish the museum.
The collection documents not only the firm's evolution as the dominant global pioneer in medical electronics, but also the history of modern medical electronics. The museum is located on the fourth floor concourse of the Medical College Cardiovascular Center.
The museum was dedicated in honor of John Kampine, MD, PhD, former Chairman and the John P. Kampine Professor of Anesthesiology at the College. Dr. Kampine was honored for his valuable contributions in the development of operating room monitoring systems for Marquette Electronics.
Among the guests were Todd Cozzens, son of the firm's co-founder, the late Warren Cozzens; many Marquette Electronics alumni; representatives of the Cudahy Foundation; and Jim McClintock, architect for the museum.
In 1964, Cozzens and Cudahy formed Marquette Electronics, a company that pursued the early stages of medical electronics with notable success. The company was named after Marquette University.
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Michael J. Cudahy and
James McClintock, museum architect.
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In 1965, the firm won a contract to build a "Central Electrocardiographic System" for Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. The system was delivered that same year, with agonizing service problems, but the two entrepreneurs persisted. This humble beginning resulted in orders from many other major medical centers, placing Marquette firmly in the medical electronics business.
Through the years, Marquette expanded into stress testing, Holter ambulatory ECG recording, computerized ECG analysis systems, catheterization lab systems, defibrillators, anesthetic gas analysis systems and, finally, bedside and operating room monitors.
Marquette Electronics became a global leader in the field of diagnostic cardiology and patient monitoring and joined the General Electric Company in 1998, becoming Marquette Medical Systems.
Michael Cudahy became a founding member of the Medical College Cardiovascular Research Center Advisory Board as a result of his positive relationship with Dr. Kampine, and continues to be an active member. It was at his suggestion, while serving as chair of the board's public affairs committee, that the Center was renamed the Cardiovascular Center.
The Medical College awarded Cudahy an honorary Doctor of Science degree at its 1997 commencement exercises in honor of his accomplishments as an entrepreneur, as well as his generous support and commitment to science, technology and education.