John E. Abele (born 1937) is an American businessman, and the co-founder and a director of

Boston Scientific Boston Scientific Corporation ("BSC"), incorporated in Delaware, is a biomedical/biotechnology engineering firm and multinational manufacturer of medical devices used in interventional medical specialties, including interventional radiology, i ...

, a

medical device A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

company. He was awarded the

ASME Medal The ASME Medal, created in 1920, is the highest award bestowed by the ASME (founded as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Board of Governors for "eminently distinguished engineering achievement". The award has been presented every year ...

in 2010. As of May 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$640 million. He was first a billionaire on the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is pub ...

list in 1996, but has since given away much of his wealth.

Biography

Early life and education

Abele was raised in a "Classic

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United S ...

family,"Amherst College: "Flowers on the Water" by Rand Richards Cooper
Spring 2009 the youngest of three sons of Catherine (née Eaton) and

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Mannert Lincoln Abele,

USN The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. His father was the commanding officer of the submarine USS Grunion when the vessel was lost in the

Aleutians The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large vo ...

on July 31, 1942, presumably to enemy action. John and his brothers later organized, managed, and funded research to locate and photograph the Grunion – which was found in the Bering Sea – document the cause, and locate relatives of all the crew. At the age of seven, Abele was stricken with

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...

, a bacterial infection of the bone, requiring multiple surgeries and years of using crutches. He is a graduate of Amherst College with a double major in physics and philosophy (he later served as a trustee).

Career

His first job was at a light-fixture company in the Midwest; he later moved back to New England to work for a small medical company near Boston. Soon after he branched out on his own and co-founded

with Peter Nicholas. He was the chairman of

FIRST First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

robotics, and served as chairman from 2002 to 2010. Abele is a member of the

USA Science and Engineering Festival The USA Science & Engineering Festival is a bi-annual science festival held in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2010 by Larry Bock, the festival is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in the ...

's advisory board.

Personal life

Abele is married to Mary Abele.Greater Milwaukee Business Journal: "Foundation moving to Milwaukee – Chris Abele to head family's philanthropy" by Pete Millard
November 17, 2002 They live in

Shelburne, Vermont Shelburne is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located along the shores of Lake Champlain, Shelburne's town center lies approximately south of the city center of Burlington, the largest city in the state of Vermont. As of the ...

, and have three children: Chris, Alex, and Jennifer.

Chris Abele Christopher Seton Abele (born January 28, 1967) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician. He served as the 6th Milwaukee County Executive from 2011 to 2020. Abele is the son of American businessman John Abele, the co-founder ...

successfully ran for

Milwaukee County executive The Milwaukee County Executive serves as the chief executive officer of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Vested with veto power and appointing authority over department heads, the county executive oversees the administrative functions of county gover ...

in 2010.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Sources say Abele planning to run for Milwaukee County executive" By Daniel Bice
December 17, 2010

External links

What REALLY Happened To The USS Grunion Submarine?: John Abele at TEDxBeaconStreet 2013

Big Think Interview With John Abele 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abele, John 1937 births Living people Boston Scientific people Businesspeople from Boston Amherst College alumni American billionaires 20th-century American businesspeople ASME Medal recipients Philanthropists from Massachusetts American company founders Former billionaires