Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2007 > July-August 2007	Print View

Margaret Sughrue Carlson (Ph.D. ’83) and Earl Bakken (B.S. ’48)

When alumnus Earl Bakken (B.S. ’48) learned that I was a Rotarian and that I was planning a vacation in Hawaii this spring, he invited me to speak to his Rotary club on the Big Island, where he and his wife, Doris, live. “What would I talk about?” I asked. Bakken didn’t miss a beat: “The University of Minnesota, of course.”

Our alumni database shows that we have around 700 alumni on the six primary islands that make up the state of Hawaii. I knew the focus of my speech; I’d tell stories about some of our alumni residing in the Aloha State who are changing the world.

I began by telling a crowd favorite, the Earl Bakken story. Earl is a legend at the University as the inventor of the first wearable cardiac pacemaker and founder of Medtronic, a world leader in medical technology. In his eighth decade, Bakken is now advancing a new form of healing called “blended medicine.”

He helped found the North Hawaii Community Hospital on the Big Island that incorporates high-tech and high-touch medicine—acupuncture, healing touch, massage therapy, guided imagery, and other healing treatments. The hospital features rooms that can accommodate entire families and doors that open to gardens, natural landscapes, spiritual icons, and plants with healing properties.

Other Big Island alumni residents were introduced at the Rotary meeting. Natalie Gonzalez (B.A. ’68, M.D. ’72) is a pediatrician and past chair of a 46-state coalition helping rural communities and underserved urban practices recruit health-care practitioners. Georgine Busch (B.S. ’79) is treasurer of the Earl and Doris Bakken Foundation, which supports health and education initiatives in Hawaii. Mary Tancheff (B.A. ’00) is a volunteer in her community. And the most recent grad was Jim Lyke (B.S. ’97, Ph.D. ’03), an astronomer with the Keck Observatory.

Other alumni in Hawaii include Jeri Ooka (Ph.D. ’75), a plant pathologist at the University of Hawaii and an expert on diseases of coconuts and medicinal crops. George Masumoto (D.D.S. ’66), an orthodontist and a bonsai expert. Beth Daniel (M.S. ’93), who is trained in Neurolink, a nontraditional medicine based on neuroscience. Eric Rohlinger (B.S. ’00), a production manager for vaccine research at Hawaii Biotech. Joyce Seelen (B.A. ’74), an attorney and a respected specialist in handling cases dealing with sexual assault and abuse. Joel Sinn (B.S. ’79), an engineer whose firm played a huge role in the construction of the Hawaiian Cement Import Terminal. And Noelle Herring (B.S. ’00), founder of a company that specializes in designing children’s rooms to foster their creativity.

I had planned to conclude with a favorite quote by Garrison Keillor (B.A. ’66), that “the University of Minnesota is one of the glories of the state.” So I asked the audience if they listened to his Prairie Home Companion radio show. To my surprise, nearly every person in the room raised a hand. I later commented to Earl about that fact and learned that he had worked for four years to get public radio coverage all across the Big Island, through the installation of repeaters that carry the signals between the mountains.

Once again, the legendary Earl Bakken illustrated that the University of Minnesota is changing the world, one graduate at a time—and in myriad, incredible ways.