Anthony J. Adducci (August 14, 1937 – September 19, 2006) was a pioneer of the medical device industry in Minnesota. He is best known for co-founding Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc., the company that manufactured the world's first lithium battery powered artificial pacemaker. The lithium-iodide cell revolutionized the medical industry and is now the standard cell for pacemakers.
Early life and education
Adducci was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 14, 1937, to Alexander James Adducci and Valeria Maria (Vigna, Bona) Adducci. Adducci's maternal grandfather, Lorenzo Valerio Bona, was Juventus F.C. forward and Commander and Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy. Adducci's family originated from the town of Alessandria del Carretto in Italy.
In 1951, he graduated from St. Catherine of Genoa Grammar School, in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago. He attended Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, receiving the BS Physics in 1959. He pursued additional study in electrical engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology and in business administration at the University of Minnesota.
Career
Jensen Manufacturing
In 1960, Adducci was employed as an acoustical engineer for the Jensen Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois where he engaged in the design and development of loudspeakers and horns.
International Telephone and Telegraph
In 1961, he joined International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation in Chicago Illinois where, as a development engineer, he instructed numerous training courses on digital data communication systems and as a senior test engineer directed ITT personnel in electro-interference testing of the Boeing Minuteman (missile) for the Strategic Air Command. He also taught high-level courses to the United States Air Force in Biloxi, Mississippi.
While in Chicago in 1963, Adducci worked with a local physician and developed an electronic ear thermometer used to detect the time of ovulation in the human female. He developed an earplug and a recording device that would measure the tympanic temperature and got his wife, who was a nurse, to measure her temperatures, and they were able to predict ovulations. They published a paper in an IEEE journal (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) biomedical area.
Sperry Rand Corporation
In August 1964, he accepted a position with the Sperry Rand Corporation's UNIVAC Division in St. Paul, Minnesota as a system design engineer engaged in the logic design of computer peripheral equipment.
Medtronic
In April 1966, he was hired by Earl Bakken, CEO of Medtronic as a Sales Engineer. Adducci was the ninetieth employee at the time. While at Medtronic he served in various technical and marketing responsibilities including, sales administration manager, and pacemaker consulting specialist. He taught surgeons around the United States the basics of how pacemakers work and how to insert the pacemaker into the body. Adducci was involved in over fifty surgeries while at Medtronic.
Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. (CPI) Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. was founded by Anthony Adducci, Manuel Villafana, Arthur Schwalm, and James Baustert, each with experience in a different aspect of the pacemaker business. All four had built their careers at Medtronic. The founding partners had multiple lawsuits by and against Medtronic, all settled out of court.
The first $50,000 capitalization for CPI was raised from a phone booth on the Minneapolis skyway system. They began designing and testing their implantable cardiac pacemaker powered with the worlds first longer-life lithium battery in 1971. The first CPI pacemaker was implanted in June 1973.
Acquisition and mergers
In early 1978, CPI was concerned about a friendly takeover attempt. Despite impressive sales, the company's stock price had fluctuated wildly the year before, dropping from $33 to $11 per share. Some speculated that the stock was being sold short, while others attributed the price to the natural volatility of high-tech stock. As a one-product company, CPI was susceptible to changing market conditions, and its founders knew they needed to diversify. They considered two options: acquiring other medical device companies or being acquired themselves. They chose the latter.