Sheldon Kaplan was an American inventor and scientist, recently inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, primarily due to his most notable invention, the Epi Pen

After beginning his career at NASA, Sheldon began developing the first prototype for the Epi Pen, which would fundamentally change the availability of emergency care for people with serious allergies. Despite being told numerous times his invention would not work, he continued iterating and rebuilding his designs, until a successful version was created in 1980.

His efforts have affected tens of millions of people and saved countless lives over the years. A recent study reported that anaphylaxis likely occurs in about 1 in 50 Americans, with some evidence supporting an even higher rate. As someone who is a part of this 1 in 50 group, Sheldon’s ingenuity has personally impacted my life since I was born.

I believe he embodies the pioneering spirit that we strive for at Omlie, because despite early roadblocks, he continued to look for new ways and new science that could lead to his invention becoming successful. Sheldon was quoted to be not “ego driven” but instead committed to solving problems that would help as many people as possible, which I believe led to a pioneering spirit that is still positively impacting millions to this day.