Min Hwan Kao () is a Taiwanese-American electrical engineer,

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businessman, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of

Garmin Garmin Ltd. is an American multinational technology company based in Olathe, Kansas. The company designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes GPS-enabled products and other navigation, communication, sensor-based, and information ...

, with Gary Burrell, and has been its chairman. In 2011, Kao was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

for leadership in developing and commercializing compact

GPS navigation device A satellite navigation (satnav) device or GPS device is a device that uses satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). A satnav device can determine the user's geographic coordinat ...

Early life and education

Min Hwan Kao was born in 1949 in Zhushan, Nantou, a small town in Taiwan. He graduated from the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, then completed graduate studies in the United States at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, where he earned his

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(M.S.) and Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1977.

Career

Kao undertook research for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He was subsequently a systems analyst for Teledyne Systems, an algorithm designer for Magnavox Advanced Products, and an engineering group leader for King Radio Corporation. He also worked for

AlliedSignal AlliedSignal, Inc. was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company, created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and The Signal Companies. It purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and adopted the Honeywell name and iden ...

. In 1989, with Gary Burrell, Kao co-founded

, a company best known for manufacturing devices that use the

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...

. Kao stepped down as CEO of Garmin in 2012, but remains executive chairman and a member of the board.

Philanthropy

In 2005, Kao gave $17.5 million to the College of Engineering of the

, $12.5 million of which was designated for the construction of a new facility. In May 2007, groundbreaking ceremonies were conducted for the new Min Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building. The building was dedicated in March 2012. In 2014, Kao donated $1 million to the University of Kansas College of Engineering for the building of electrical and computer engineering design labs. In 2015, Kao donated $1 million to the Kansas State University College of Engineering for building four labs.

Awards

*In September 2024, Kao was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.

Personal life

Kao is married to Fan Kao. They have a son, Ken Kao, who is a film producer, and a daughter, Jen Kao, who is a fashion designer. They reside in Leawood, Kansas. In 2011, he purchased an apartment in 15 Central Park West, Manhattan, New York City. He spends the majority of his time in Manhattan. As of February 2020, his personal wealth was estimated at $4.1 billion. In 2021 Kao was selected by the Carnegie Corporation as a " Great Immigrant, Great American".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kao, Min 1949 births Living people People from Nantou County People from Leawood, Kansas Taiwanese emigrants to the United States American people of Chinese descent National Taiwan University alumni University of Tennessee alumni American company founders American technology chief executives Businesspeople from Kansas Garmin American philanthropists American billionaires People associated with the Global Positioning System Business duos Kansas Business Hall of Fame inductees National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees