Michael John Cudahy (March 24, 1924 – March 11, 2022) was an American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, business executive, and philanthropist.

Early life, family and education

Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

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, in 1924, Cudahy was the son of

John Cudahy John Clarence Cudahy (December 10, 1887 – September 6, 1943) was an American real estate developer and diplomat. In the years leading up to World War II, Cudahy served as United States ambassador to Poland and Belgium, and as United States minis ...

, United States ambassador to

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and

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. His grandfather was

Patrick Cudahy Patrick Cudahy Jr. (); March 17, 1849 – July 25, 1919) was an American industrialist in the meat packing business and a patriarch of the Cudahy family. Biography Cudahy was born on St. Patrick's Day in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. A few ...

, founder of the Patrick Cudahy Meat Company. On August 2, 2007,

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in Milwaukee reported that Michael Cudahy was one of several private investors considering purchasing

Midwest Airlines Midwest Airlines (formerly Midwest Express) was a U.S.-based airline headquartered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, that operated from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport between 1984 and 2010. For a short time, it also operated as a brand of ...

Career

Along with Warren Cozzens, Cudahy founded Marquette Electronics in 1965 and served as chairman and CEO. The company went

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in 1991. After starting with only $15,000 in capital, the company went on to have over $350 million annually in sales. This company created the nation's first central electrocardiographic system at

Northwestern University Medical School Northwestern or North-western or North western may refer to: * Northwest, a direction * Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois ** The Northwestern Wildcats, this school's intercollegiate athletic program ** No ...

. The machine became standard in hospitals throughout the United States. The company was also noted for having one of the first on-site

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s in the nation. In 1982, he and Warren bought the failing Patient Monitoring Business Unit from GE (then known as General Electric Medical Systems Division) and combined it with the existing business (primarily diagnostic equipment). By 1998, however, he sold Marquette Electronics (by then known as Marquette Medical Systems) to GE. The company exists today as part of the Clinical Systems division of

GE Healthcare GE HealthCare is a subsidiary of American multinational conglomerate General Electric incorporated in New York and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. As of 2017, it is a manufacturer and distributor of diagnostic imaging agents and radiopharma ...

, a subsidiary of the American conglomerate. After stepping aside at his company, Cudahy focused his energies on philanthropy and serving on the boards of other companies. In 1999, according to

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(SEC) filings, he invested $10 million in TomoTherapy a

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

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start-up. It went public on May 9, 2007, with the stock symbol TOMO. Mr. Cudahy's 10% interest was valued at more than $100 million by September 2007. He told the story of the founding of Marquette Electronics in the book ''Joyworks'' (2002; ).

Personal life and death

Cudahy was still actively working in the lead up to his 90th birthday in March 2014. Cudahy died on March 11, 2022, at the age of 97.

Philanthropy

The Michael J. Cudahy Foundation is the entity through which Cudahy did most of his philanthropy. It is completely distinct from the Patrick & Anna M. Cudahy Foundation, set up by his uncle, Michael F. Cudahy. The following institutions have been the recipients of gifts by Michael J. Cudahy: *

Boys and Girls Club Boys & Girls Club may refer to: * Boys & Girls Clubs of America * Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada * Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs, Bronx, United States * Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, in Essex and East London, England * The Boys' and Girls' Clubs A ...

* John C. Cudahy

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Discovery World Discovery World is a science and technology museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The museum is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of STEM majors through curiosity and creativity. Focus Mission "Discovery World provides fun and educationa ...

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Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

– sponsors the Michael Cudahy professorship *

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection contains nearly 25,000 works of art. Location and Visit Located on the lakefront of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the largest art museu ...

Milwaukee Ballet The Milwaukee Ballet is a professional ballet company founded by Roberta Boorse of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is located in Milwaukee, and is currently run by Michael Pink, the artistic director. History The Milwaukee Ballet was fou ...

Milwaukee Public Museum The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) is a natural and human history museum in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The museum was chartered in 1882 and opened to the public in 1884; it is a not-for-profit organization operated by the Milwaukee Public Mus ...

Milwaukee School of Engineering The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is a private university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The campus is in the East Town neighborhood of downtown Milwaukee. The school's enrollment of 2,820 includes 224 graduate students. As of fall 2018, ...

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for Florentine ...

Pabst Theater The Pabst Theater is an indoor performance and concert venue and landmark of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Colloquially known as "the Pabst", the theater hosts about 100 events per year. Built in 1895, it is the fourth-oldest continuously o ...

– Cudahy bought the beleaguered landmark theatre in downtown Milwaukee for $1, keeping it open and afloat. He had previously donated over $9 million to the theatre. * Riverside Theater – Cudahy signed a lease to run entertainment programs in the historic Riverside Theater in downtown Milwaukee. * Pier Wisconsin – Cudahy was spearheading this ambitious project for Milwaukee's lakefront, which some argue would steal the limelight from the nearby Milwaukee Art Museum (also a recipient of Cudahy's funds). * United Community Center *

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...

– Supporter of the Milwaukee Heart Ball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cudahy, Michael 1924 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American philanthropists Businesspeople from Milwaukee Cudahy family