William Hawkins was elected President and Chief Operating Officer of Medtronic, Inc., effective May 3, 2004. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and President of Medtronic’s Vascular business.

Mr. Hawkins joined Medtronic in January 2002 from Novoste Corp., where he had been President and Chief Executive Officer since 1998. Earlier positions included Corporate Vice President and President of the Sherwood Davis and Geck organization of American Home Products; President of the Ethicon Endo-Surgery organization of Johnson & Johnson; President, Devices for Vascular Intervention and U.S. Operations, for Guidant Corp.; and several increasingly responsible executive positions culminating in the presidency of the Ivac organization for Eli Lilly & Co. He began his medical technology career with Carolina Medical Electronics in 1977.

Mr. Hawkins received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and biomedical engineering from Duke University in 1976 and received a Master of Business Administration Degree from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, in 1982. Mr. Hawkins is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Engineering School of Duke University, the Board of Deluxe and the Guthrie Theatre Board.