Paul Citron was vice president of Technology Policy and Academic Relations at Medtronic, Inc. when he retired in 2003 after 32 years at the company His previous position was Vice President of Science and Technology. He had responsibility for corporate-wide assessment and coordination of technology and for establishing and prioritization of corporate research. Mr. Citron was awarded a B.S. in electrical engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1969 and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1972. In 2003 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Citron was elected Founding Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in January 1993, has twice won the American College of Cardiology Governor's Award for Excellence, and in 1980 was inducted as a Fellow of the Medtronic Bakken Society. He was voted IEEE Young Electrical Engineer of the Year in 1979. He has authored numerous publications and holds eight U.S. medical device patents. In 1980 he was given Medtronic's "Invention of Distinction" award for his role as co-inventor of the tined pacing lead. Currently he is a senior fellow at the von Liebig Center, School of Engineering, University of California San Diego and holds a faculty position at UCSD.