Kevin Oscar Newton Kalkhoven (1944 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian venture capitalist and

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

magnate based in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He served as CEO of

JDS Uniphase JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU) was an American company that designed and manufactured products for optical communications networks, communications test and measurement equipment, lasers, optical solutions for authentication and decorative applica ...

and was an investor in Cosworth Group Holdings Limited, an automotive technology business headquartered in Northampton, United Kingdom. In July 2018 Kalkhoven was given an Honorary doctorate by The

University of Northampton The University of Northampton is a public university based in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of a number of training colleges, and gained full university status as the University of Northampton in ...

for developments in technology and motorsports. Kalkhoven was a team owner of KV Racing Technology, with business partner

Jimmy Vasser James Vasser Jr. (born November 20, 1965) is an American former racing driver. Vasser won the 1996 CART IndyCar championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series. Vasser was the last American to win the CART champio ...

, which won the 2013 Indianapolis 500, driven by

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...

JDS Uniphase Corporation

Kalkhoven joined the Uniphase Corporation in 1992 as President, CEO and Chairman. Kalkhoven oversaw its transformation from a privately held manufacturer of industrial lasers into a publicly held supplier of components and modules for fiber optic telecommunications networks and saw Uniphase become a member of the NASDAQ 100. During Kalkhoven's tenure, as CEO, the Company’s annual sales rate increased over 67 times (

sic The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...

) from $23 million in fiscal 1991 to the $394 million reported for the quarter ended 31 March 2000. Additionally, the market cap of Uniphase grew from $35 million to $100 billion. Kalkhoven oversaw the merger with JDS FITEL in July 1999 and the emergence of the combined entity in the fiber optic components and modules marketplace. Kalkhoven was named in the May 2000 ''Worth'' magazine as one of America’s Top 50 CEOs.

Motorsport interests

In 2003, Kalkhoven became one of the owners of the

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

, with Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Dan Pettit under the name OWRS, or Open-Wheel Racing Series, along with purchasing the rights to major races in Toronto and Long Beach as strategic measures to ensure the future of the Champ Car series. In March 2008, Champ Car reached an agreement with

Tony George Anton Hulman "Tony" George (born December 30, 1959) is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Company, serving from 1989 to 2009. He was also formerly on the Board of Directors of both entities ...

, owner of the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

, to merge the two series under the IndyCar Series banner for 2008 and beyond. In 2013, Kalkhoven co-founded PKV Racing (later known as

KV Racing Technology KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Pol ...

), which competed in both the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar series, amassing five wins, including the 2013 Indianapolis 500, with driver

. Kalkhoven was named as the Number 5 Most Powerful and Influential man in ''

Racer Magazine ''Racer'' (stylized ''RACER''), is an American motorsports magazine based in Irvine, California. Owned by Racer Media & Marketing, it is published eight times a year as a sister publication to the Racer.com website. Overview The magazine has n ...

s 2005 Power and Influence in Racing list (November 2005 issue).

Cosworth

Kalkhoven purchased the

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...

and Pi Group companies from

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

in 2004 with business partner Gerald Forsythe. Kalkhoven served as Chairman of the now-merged companies and he has led the transition of the company from a motor-racing centric cost-center to a profitable automotive technology company with leading

LIDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

sensor technology and hybrid powertrains. Under his stewardship Cosworth designed, developed and commercialized the Advanced Manufacturing Centre in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and established its North American Headquarters and Advanced Manufacturing Center in

Shelby Township, Michigan Shelby is a civil township of Oceana County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,951 at the 2000 census. The village of Shelby is located within the township. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township ...

Philanthropy

A noted philanthropist, Kalkhoven was on the board of directors of the Association of

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, which benefits children with serious and life-threatening medical conditions. He was a benefactor of the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

and has donated substantially to the Canary Foundation, which is dedicated to the early detection of cancer. Kalkhoven was a trustee of the Lizard Island Marine Research Station on Australia’s Barrier Reef. In addition, Kalkhoven was a donor to the Ansari X Prize, a competition to build privately funded manned passenger spacecraft.

Personal life and death

Kalkhoven was educated at the

Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, England. After leaving school he joined

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...

, England before joining IBM as a systems analyst. He was also an avid aviator (he was a licensed commercial pilot and has extensive experience flying a variety of aircraft including Gulfstream intercontinental jets), and enjoyed alpine skiing, scuba diving, and wine-making. Kalkhoven resided in the Bay Area bedroom community of

Alamo, California Alamo (Spanish: ''Álamo''; meaning "Poplar tree") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, in the United States. It is a suburb located in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay re ...

on a 1,200 acre hillside estate. He died on January 4, 2022, at the age of 77.Former Champ Car owner Kevin Kalkhoven dies, aged 77
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalkhoven, Kevin 1944 births 2022 deaths American chief executives of manufacturing companies Auto racing executives Australian businesspeople Australian motorsport people IndyCar Series team owners People from Menlo Park, California People educated at Whitgift School