Gary K. Michelson

Michelson and his three brothers were raised by his mother and grandmother.[4] He attended Central High School of Philadelphia, Temple University and Hahnemann Medical College of Drexel University and completed his medical residency in orthopedic surgery at Hahnemann Medical Hospital, before completing fellowship training in spinal surgery at St. Luke’s Medical Center in a joint program between Baylor University and the University of Texas. He was a practicing spinal surgeon for over 25 years before retiring from private practice to focus on philanthropy.

He is of Jewish heritage.[5]

Seeing the low success rates associated with spinal surgery procedures[6][7] on the market during his early career, Michelson developed new technologies, creating implants, instruments and procedures that enabled spinal surgeons to manage more spinal ailments. Implanted globally in millions of patients, "Michelson Devices" promote effective spinal surgery by decreasing the blood loss, incision size, risks and complications, hospital stay and overall costs compared to earlier procedures.[8] He has over 340 U.S. Patents on instruments, methods and devices for advances in spinal and orthopedic surgery and over 950 issued or pending patents worldwide for instruments, operative procedures, and medical devices related to the treatment of spinal disorders.[9][10]

In 2005, Michelson sold many of his spine related patents to Medtronic for over $1 billion,[11] placing him on the Forbes 400[12] list where he has since remained.[13] A legal battle with Medtronic over the origins of the patents preceded the sale. Michelson cross-filed in response to Medtronic's suit and was awarded financial damages for both lawsuits by the jury. The legal defense against Medtronic's suit established a major legal precedent in 2004, governing who bears the cost of pre-trial discovery of electronic evidence.[14]

Michelson announced his intent to launch a medical philanthropic venture in a 2005 New York Times article.[15] The Gary Karlin Michelson, M.D. Charitable Foundation, Inc. was founded in 1995 and was later renamed the Michelson Medical Research Foundation in 2005. The nonprofit does not accept donations.[16]

Also in 2005, Michelson launched the Found Animals Foundation,[17] a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation dedicated to animal welfare.[18]

After reading an article in the Los Angeles Times by Sabin Vaccine Institute President Peter Hotez,[19] Michelson became one of the principal supporters of the Institute's fight against neglected tropical diseases, giving birth to the Michelson Neglected Disease Vaccine Initiative.[20] Michelson said he "felt compelled to support efforts to develop a vaccine against the four most devastating parasitic worm infections because more than one billion innocent people, many of them small children, are unnecessarily plagued by these neglected diseases."[21]

In 2011, Michelson created the Twenty Million Minds Foundation,[22] originally a comprehensive library of higher education textbooks in an open education platform and now an education startup incubator.[23]

In 2008, Michelson's Found Animals foundation launched the Michelson Prize and Grants in Reproductive Biology[24] an international competition with a monetary prize aimed at solving the problem of pet overpopulation. Researchers from a wide variety of scientific fields took on the challenge of non-surgical pet sterilization. Recognizing that interested parties might not have access to the funds that the research and testing would require, a companion organization, Michelson Grants in Reproductive Biology,[25] provided limited funding for research. The Michelson Prize seeks to make sterilization accessible and affordable worldwide and aid developing countries.[26][27]

In a program directly acknowledged by the L.A. Mayor’s office, Michelson’s Found Animals Foundation paid for the costs of anyone who would rescue a dog or cat scheduled for euthanasia.[28]

In January 2014 it was announced that Michelson gifted $50 million to the University of Southern California for the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience.[29][30][31] The venue opened its doors on November 1, 2017.[32]

In February 2016, through his organization, the 20MM Michelson Foundation, Michelson released a variety of intellectual property tools including a series of videos that foreshadowed the publication of a proper intellectual property textbook.[33]

Michelson was a contributing author of the free comprehensive textbook The Intangible Advantage: Understanding Intellectual Property in the New Economy. Released on May 22, 2016, the textbook is devoted to intellectual property topics and was written specifically for non-lawyers and undergraduate students. It includes a working explanation of patents, copyrights and trademarks.[34] In 2019, he presented as a guest speaker at The Future of Intellectual Property: Examining IP in a Changing World.[35] In 2020, he presented as the keynote speaker at the third Intellectual Property Awareness Summit at UC Berkeley.[36]

In 2017, Dr. Gary K. Michelson and Alya Michelson, through the MMRF and the Human Vaccines Project,[37] launched the Young Researchers Prizes which dispenses $150,000 awards to specifically support out-of-the-box, high risk, high return, medically relevant research by scientists under the age of 36. Dr. Michelson partnered with the Human Vaccine Project to judge the Researcher Competition.

In a companion project, Michelson created a complete undergraduate college course, "The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Intellectual Property", which has been taught at the USC Marshall School of Business via its Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Santa Monica College since August 2017.[38][39][40][41]

On October 30, 2017, at Leveraging Intellectual Property In Today's Knowledge Economy, a kick-off event which took place at the University of Southern California, the new Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property was announced. The new institute oversees the earlier Intangible Advantage IP course and provides resources for both educators and students of the program. It also offers the option of becoming an ambassador for the institute.[42]

On October 24, 2018, the seminar, Hacking IP: Considerations for Startups and Entrepreneurs, the first event in a year-long multi-city program, took place in Downtown Los Angeles and featured such ambassadors as Nathan Khalil, Benjamin Kuo, Carmen Palafox and Thomas Peistrup.[43]

On January 18, 2019, the California Spay and Neuter License Plate Fund, a non-profit organization founded in 2010 by Judie Mancuso, Dr. Gary K. Michelson, actor Pierce Brosnan and his wife Keely Shaye Smith, announced an initial round of grants benefiting low income families in need of spay or neuter for their pet.[44][45]

Social Compassion in Legislation calls for Audit of CDFA and Pet Lover's Plate Fund[46].

In the legislative year 2017, in partnership with Social Compassion in Legislation, Dr. Gary Michelson funded, initiated and successfully advanced legislation into law that ended the practice of pet shops sourcing their animals for sale from out of state mills as well as a companion bill that required all pet shops in California that sold cats and dogs to source their animals from local shelters and rescue groups.[47]

In the legislative year 2018, in partnership with Social Compassion in Legislation, Dr. Michelson funded and successfully advanced legislation into law to ban the sale in California of cosmetics tested on animals, The California Cruelty-Free Cosmetic Act.[48]

In the legislative year 2019, in partnership with Social Compassion in Legislation, Dr. Michelson funded and successfully advanced SB 313, the Circus Cruelty Prevention Act, which bans the use of animals in circus shows in California.[49]

In the legislative year 2019, in partnership with Social Compassion in Legislation, Dr. Michelson funded, initiated and successfully achieved the passage of California law AB 1260 which ends the cruel practice of commercial fur trapping, bans the sale of all products made from the hides of exotic animals, and beats back an attempt by outside interests to allow the sale of alligator and crocodile products.[50]

Michelson lives in Los Angeles with his wife Alya, and their three children.[51]

In the August 2016 special issue of the Los Angeles Business Journal, Michelson was listed among the 500 most influential people in Los Angeles.[52]

In the December 2015 issue of Forbes magazine, Michelson was featured alongside Warren Buffett, William A. Ackman, Michael Milken and Michael J. Fox as one of "10 People with Big Ideas to Change the World".[53]

In December 2018, Michelson appeared on the cover of CSQ C-Suite Quarterly Magazine and was awarded the Visionary of the Year Award in Philanthropy. The award ceremony took place in New York City on February 5, 2019.[54][55]

Michelson was also interviewed on the Positive Phil Podcast about his personal, professional and philanthropical contributions.[56]

Michelson was also featured on the Adam Mendler podcast.[57]

• [2018] Recipient of the 2018 Visionary of the Year Award in Philanthropy from CSQ / C-Suite Quarterly Magazine. [58]
• [2017] Recipient of the 2017 Innovation Award for Technology from the Los Angeles County Medical Association.[59]
• [2017] Recipient of the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Southern California.[60][61]
• [2017] L.A. County Letter of Appreciation to USC Michelson namesakes: Gary & Alya Michelson.[62][63]
• [2015] Recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award from B'nai B'rith International for his commitment to philanthropy, humanitarian assistance and community leadership.[64]
• [2015] Recipient of the 2015 Albert. B Sabin Humanitarian Award in recognition of his extraordinary philanthropy and commitment toward the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) through high-level advocacy and vaccine research and development.[65][66]
• [2014] Inducted into the National Academy of Inventors on March 7, 2014 in recognition of exceptional accomplishments in innovation and invention to benefit society.[67][68]
• [2011] Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C. on May 4, 2011.[69][70]
• [2010] Member of the board of Educational Foundation of the Intellectual Property Owners Association since July 2010.[71][72]
• [2006] Recipient of the 2006 Paralyzed Veterans of America Award for Outstanding Medical Research in the Field of Spinal Disorders.[73]

• Official website
• Michelson Medical Research Foundation
• Michelson Patents