Manny Villafaña Papers
name: label: Creator
content: GV Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
label: Creator
content: CABG Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: ATS Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: St. Jude Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Med General, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Kips Bay Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Helix BioCore, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Villafana, Manny, 1940-
topic: label: Topic
content: Cardiovascular Equipment Industry
label: Topic
content: Heart, Artificial
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 21st century
label: Topic
content: Medical Equipment
label: Topic
content: Medical innovations
label: Topic
content: Medical instruments and apparatus
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 21st century
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Heart -- Surgery
label: Topic
content: Medicine
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Manny Villafaña on January 29, 2015.
creator: label: Creator
content: GV Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
label: Creator
content: CABG Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: ATS Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: St. Jude Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Med General, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Kips Bay Medical, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Helix BioCore, Inc.
label: Creator
content: Villafana, Manny, 1940-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Manny Villafaña Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The collection documents Manny Villafaña, inventor, entrepreneur and founder of several medical device companies since 1971. The majority of the collection pertains to St. Jude Medical, which introduced the  mechanical heart valve technology that became the industry standard.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Manny Villafaña (b. 1940- ) began his career in medical technology as a salesman for Medtronic, Inc., exploring  the potential market in Argentina.  Upon his return to the U.S. Villafaña went on to found Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. and later St. Jude Medical.  During the decade following the founding of CPI, Manny Villafaña business savvy and medical technology know-how would propel him to celebrity in the Minnesota business community and national entrepreneurial  scene.  Some of the technology introduced by Villafaña's companies, such as the St. Jude's pyrolytic bileaflet artificial heart valve, have become industry standards. Villafaña would eventually found seven medical technology companies, with Kips Bay being the most recent.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 10 Cubic feet (25 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1961-2014
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1340
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Papers
label: Type
content: Minutes
label: Type
content: Annual reports
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Brochures
label: Type
content: Reports
label: Type
content: Press releases
label: Type
content: Stock records
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: This collection was processed by Marlin Olivier, intern, supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 1980-2010
label: Genre/Form
content: Papers
label: Genre/Form
content: Minutes
label: Genre/Form
content: Annual reports
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Brochures
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 21st century
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports
label: Genre/Form
content: Annual reports -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Press releases
label: Genre/Form
content: Stock records
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of 10 cubic feet of material documenting Manny Villafaña, an inventor and entrepreneur. The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence and clippings related to his professional life. There are a few personal items in the collection, such as a St. Jude prayer card, included with the records of St. Jude Medical and a photograph of Villafaña (1988) at the construction site of the Basilica of St. Mary.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Wilson Greatbatch Innovative Lives Presentation, 1996 (ACNMAH 0601)

James A. E. Halkett and Sigmund A. Wesolowski, M.D., Papers, 1948-1951 (ACNMAH 0220)

Van Phillips Oral History and Papers, 1991-2004 (ACNMAH 0859)

George Edward Burch Papers, 1984-1986 (ACNMAH 0316)

James A. E. Halkett and Sigmund A. Wesolowski, M.D., Papers, 1948-1951 (ACNMAH 0220)

Materials at Other Organizations

Conversazione, November 20, 1997, January 21, 1998 and May 20, 1998. Oral history is on file at the Minnesota Historical Society.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Related heart valves are in the Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History. See Accession 2015.003.