Distinguished Alumnus and Donor Min H. Kao
In the early 1970s, it was a "natural path" for Min Kao to apply for a teaching assistantship to continue his graduate studies in engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
However, the path Dr. Min H. Kao traveled over the next three decades led to a gift of extraordinary generosity to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, College of Engineering–one that will insure that Kao's name will be known by future engineering students for generations to come.
Kao, a native of Taiwan, received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the National Taiwan University in Taipei. After graduation, he applied to universities in the United States for his postgraduate studies. When he was offered a teaching assistantship at the University of Tennessee, which helped to pay for his tuition and expenses, he decided to accept; his brother was also a student at Vanderbilt University, so the proximity of Knoxville to Nashville made UTK an obvious choice.
As a graduate student, Kao worked on research projects under the guidance of now-retired ECE professors Dr. James Hung and Dr. Robert Bodenheimer.
"I found the University of Tennessee's engineering program to be very practical, and a logical next step to the theory I studied at National Taiwan University," Kao said. "Looking back, I can see how well this training has served me throughout my career. Of course, some of the things I enjoyed most about my days at UT were the various research projects that I undertook under the supervision of Dr. Hung and Dr. Bodenheimer."
After receiving his master's and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from UT in 1975 and 1977, respectively, Kao accepted a position at Teledyne, where he was involved in the development of various navigation systems. He was employed for stints at Magnavox and King Radio (which later was sold to AlliedSignal, and eventually to Honeywell), but eventually Kao decided to join forces with a former King Radio colleague, Gary Burrell, to start their own company. Both had extensive experience in navigation systems; Kao had led the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) team that developed the first GPS receiver certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
"We worked hard, learned a lot along the way, and surrounded ourselves with talented people. Looking back, I can say with all honesty that starting a new company with absolutely no business, manufacturing or marketing training was never part of my life's plan," Kao added.
The company was initially named ProNav and then later re-named Garmin -- a play on the first names of the founders. Garmin introduced its flagship GPS product for the domestic marine market and then expanded to international marine and aviation applications. Burrell and Kao established their first office in Lenexa, Kansas, in 1989, and started to build up their U.S. campus at their current Kansas City suburb location in 1996.
Garmin Ltd. is currently a world leader in aviation, marine, recreational, fitness and automotive GPS markets, and has reported significant growth over the past 15 years. The company has nearly 3,000 employees worldwide located at facilities in Kansas, Oregon, Arizona, Taiwan and England. To date, Garmin has shipped more than 10 million GPS navigation, communication and information devices.
"We focus on insourcing and creating jobs. We implement a vertical integration concept for which we design, develop and market every product under the Garmin name," Kao commented.
Kao had stayed in touch with Hung over the years, and initially contacted the retired engineering professor with the proposal of providing a gift of lasting value to a university–potentially, his alma mater, the University of Tennessee. Hung suggested that Kao consider donating funding toward a much-needed new engineering building.
Kao's transformational donation of $17.5 million to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering -- $12.5 million designated for a new building and $5 million in matching funds to generate an endowment of $10 million -- is the largest single-donor private gift in the history of UT-Knoxville. Both the new facility and the ECE department will be named after Kao in honor of his generosity.
Prior to the announcement of the gift, Kao modestly stayed in the background, remaining anonymous while details were being worked out and only revealing his name after the arrangements were final in order to keep the focus on the building and fundraising initiatives. However, he is excited about the new facility, and hopes to visit Knoxville for the dedication ceremony.
"I'm not much help around a construction site, so don't expect to see me in a hard hat. However, I hope to provide some input at the design stage, and I will certainly be on hand for the excitement of the building's dedication," Kao said.
Kao will continue to lead Garmin, where he has plans for future growth. He also hopes to make time for travel and family activities with his wife, Fan, and their two adult children.