Philanthropist, inventor in biomedical engineering to give lecture Dec. 3

CHAPEL HILL -- Alfred E. Mann, a businessman, inventor and philanthropist in biomedical engineering, will give the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s W. Paul Biggers Distinguished Lectureship on Dec. 3 at 4:30 p.m.

Mann’s free talk, to be held at 106 Berryhill Hall, is titled "From Idea to Reality." The UNC School of Medicine’s department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery is hosting the visit.

The lectureship honors the late UNC School of Medicine professor Dr. W. Paul Biggers and his lifelong commitment to helping children who have speech and hearing disorders. Biggers was responsible for the creation of the Carolina Children’s Communicative Disorders Program.

Mann is chairman and chief executive officer of MannKind Corp., chairman and co-chief executive officer of Advanced Bionics Corp., chairman of Quallion LLC and Second Sight LLC and chairman emeritus of Pacesetter Inc., all companies he founded.

These companies have developed biomedical products and devices, including cochlear implants, cardiac pacemakers and micro-infusion pumps for treatment of diabetes and other medical conditions.

He also has contributed significantly to numerous technical advances in medical devices, photovoltaic power conversion, illumination, radiometry, vacuum physics, thin-film optics and advanced methods of mathematical analysis. He holds numerous patents, with several pending, and has written a number of scientific papers.

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Contact: Elizabeth Perry, (919) 966-8926 or eaperry@med.unc.edu