| 1 | Born and raised 100 miles south of the Canadian border in Two Harbors, Minnesota, he personified practical and humble leadership in McKesson Medical-Surgical’s extended care and primary care businesses. |
| 2 | As president, he pulled together legacy teams and businesses to form a three-brand strategy for Henry Schein Medical in the early 2000s. |
| 3 | He helped build Owens & Minor on trust, openness, honesty, good business sense, a cigar and good stories. |
| 4 | How could distributors fail to love this Florida-based Hall of Famer, whose manufacturing firm has the following registered trademark: Dedicated to Distribution®? |
| 5 | Would dress as a U.S. Marine Corps drill sergeant to conduct memorable sales training seminars for distributors in Sagamore in Upstate New York. (Additional clue: Was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and two gold stars for his service in the Pacific in World War II.) |
| 6 | Referred to as the passionate “mother bear” for the independent distributor. Also called a “dog with a bone” for his determination on behalf of independents. |
| 7 | Drove 198,000 miles a year in his first two years as a medical salesperson, but quickly learned how to be more efficient in his travels. |
| 8 | During his tenure at HIDA, oversaw publication of seminal work on “Stockless Materials Management.” |
| 9 | Responsible for introducing “A” suppliers to the capabilities of a national rep firm. (Additional clue: The Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame is housed in this inductee’s childhood home.) |
| 10 | When he started his newsletter, he thought fax machines were the coolest. But he caught on to electronics, and was among the first in the business to develop online training programs for medical sales reps. |
| 11 | Learned how to defend himself as a small kid in an orphanage, explaining to Repertoire: “Anytime a kid picked a fight with me, I’d grab him. I’d wrap my arms around him as best I could. Then I would sink my teeth into whatever part of his body was handiest. And keep them there.” |
| 12 | Learned how business operates while working for Captain John Juni on a commercial fishing boat off the North Carolina coast. The lessons came in handy as he helped Henry Schein grow from an East Coast player to a national one. |
| 13 | Using a blue-and-yellow checked sports jacket and pants as props, created sigmoidoscope expert Dr. Ben. |
| 14 | Seized upon the needs of emerging IDNs and physician practice management companies in the 1980s, helping them cope with the new rules of Southern California’s growing managed care market |
| 15 | In his early days in sales, this Vietnam vet was said to show up at distributors’ offices wearing a high-gloss jacket, white pants and white shoes, leading distributor reps to call him the Good Humor man. |
| 16 | This Hall of Famer – said to have one of the loudest laughs in the industry – joined F.D. Titus & Sons in 1982, and for a while was a shared rep with the Clay Adams division of Becton Dickinson. |
| 17 | Told Repertoire, “One out of 10,000 people is a horse’s rear end, but the manufacturers, customers and distributors I met are the greatest bunch of people in the world.” |
| 18 | For over 20 years, has hosted the annual “Friends of the Healthcare Industry” event to support a food pantry for residents in need in Knoxville, Tennessee. |
| 19 | Studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the Illinois Institute of Technology, then became the third sales rep hired by Foster McGaw at American Hospital Supply – before buying a faltering local Chicago supplier named Central Surgical in 1952. |
| 20 | This Hall-of-Famer is famous for demanding very fast and short business dinners. Says one observer, “If the dinner does not wrap up, he will wrap it up for you.” |
| 21 | Gathered the entire factory crew in the middle of a cornfield to applaud distributor reps as they got off their bus for a training session – a demonstration of his desire to “own the relationship.” |
| 22 | The joke at his company: “We’re bringing in people so young they need their mother’s permission.” (Additional clue: Was offered a spot on the Chicago football team, the Cardinals.) |
| 23 | Pioneered the concept of a national distribution company with a local sales and warehousing presence. (Additional clue: Told recruiter he attended Massey University – a fictitious school – so he could fly B-25 bombers in World War II.) |
| 24 | Many salespeople like to talk, but perhaps this Hall of Famer’s greatest strength was his listening skills. (Additional clue: Wanted to pursue air traffic control and warning in the Air Force, but – due to his color-blindness – became a medic instead.) |
| 25 | Taught the distribution industry how to read a balance sheet. |
| 26 | Of this person, Jana Quinn said “One thing I learned from him was to really be present, that the most important moment is the one you’re in, and that the person you’re talking to is the most important thing at that moment.” (Additional clue: Graduated from Pan America College on a basketball scholarship.) |
| 27 | This Vietnam vet discovered his first love – selling – in grade school, when he gave a convincing science-fair presentation on a line of vitamins and mineral supplements. (The president of the company for whom his father worked wanted to buy some.) |
| 28 | A pioneer in automation, whose sales reps took orders on handheld devices and then downloaded them through phone lines. (Additional clue: Was a center and forward on Vanderbilt University basketball.) |
| 29 | Rolled the dice at age 32 by moving his family to Tiffin, Ohio, to co-found Seneca Medical. |
| 30 | Of the two brothers who oversaw the greatest growth of Welch Allyn, he was responsible for the cool look and feel of the company’s instruments – no surprise, having attended the college of fine arts at Syracuse University. |
| 31 | Long before there was Repertoire, there was Medical Products Sales, founded by this former American Hospital Supply sales rep |
| 32 | Saw automation as a way for independent distributors to compete against what he called “the bigs.” |
| 33 | Worked as a hyperbaric diving specialist and rescue diver before spending 20 years at Becton Dickinson and 19 at PSS. As a sales rep, he was able to convince customers that white was the best color for analyzers, failing to mention that white was the only color the company offered. |
| 34 | Sold TI calculators for $149. But at least they could add, subtract, multiply and divide. |
| 35 | Bought a distribution company at age 28, and about 20 years later launched one of the country’s first stockless purchasing programs at the same hospital where he had been born. |
| 36 | Made a painful decision to exit the company’s wholesale drug business, and went on to acquire more than 20 companies in the 21 years he led the firm. |
| 37 | Of the two brothers who oversaw the greatest growth of Welch Allyn, he was responsible for developing the company’s R&D program and operational improvements. |