Leslie A. Geddes, patriarch of biomedical engineering at Purdue University and Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Engineering, died at Westminster Village in West Lafayette on Sunday, October 25 at 6:45 AM. Born May 24, 1921 in Port Gordon, Scotland, his family moved to Canada, where he earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from McGill University in Montreal. He received his Ph.D. degree in physiology from the Baylor University College of Medicine, where -among other accomplishments - he developed the physiological monitoring systems for early astronauts. In 1962 he married Dr. LaNelle E. Geddes and she survives. Also surviving is a son, James, 2 granddaughters and 4 great-grand children. In 1974 Purdue recruited Geddes and his research team to develop an organized biomedical engineering research center and create new clinical technologies. That center flourished and subsequently became the Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center, then the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and most recentlythe Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. Though he officially retired in 1991, Geddes continued to actively teach and perform cutting-edgeresearch until his death. During a professional career that spanned more than half a century, Geddes developed innovations including burn treatments, defibrillators, a rejection-proof scaffold for ligament repair, and tiny blood pressure monitors for premature infants. He and his team most recently developed a new method of CPR that provides significantly improvedresults while reducing injury to the patient. His breakthroughs are responsible for much of the modern implantable medical device industry. Geddes received more than 30 patents and numerous awards for his ground-breaking work, including the National Medal of Technology, the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Career Achievement Award, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Laufman-Greatbatch Award, the IEEE Edison Medal, and most recently was selected to bethe inaugural recipient of the Nelson Innovation Award. In lieu of a funeral service, please send written stories celebrating Leslie Geddes's life to the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Attn: Jo Gelfand, 206 S. Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2032. Memorial contributions can be made to the Dr. Leslie A. Geddes Scholarship Fund in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at the same address. Hartzler-Clapper Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.