Who is Judy Faulkner?

(Originally posted on LinkedIn)

So, who is Judy Faulkner? Take a glimpse into the history of this incredible woman!

Judy Faulkner is the CEO and founder of America's leading medical record software provider, Epic. She is also completely self made and one of the top 10 richest (BILLIONAIRE) women in the United States!

Drop. The. Mic.

If you are part of the Epic world, you know how positively impactful this company has been to tens of thousands of healthcare IT employees and over 250 million patients all over the world. So, who is the woman behind the EMR?

Judy Faulkner grew up surrounded by healthcare as her father was a pharmacist and her mother was the director of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility (in which she won a Nobel Peace Prize, pretty impressive!). After receiving her master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1979, she began Epic. Judy started a now multi-billion-dollar company with just $6,000, including a partial investment from her parents, all on her own. Incredible!

The initial Epic team (which was originally called Human Services Computing) was comprised of three part-time employees in the basement of an apartment in Madison. It has, to this day, remained privately and employee-owned. Judy went on to marry a pediatrician, Gordon Faulkner (continuing on the healthcare tradition for their family), and they had three children together. Recently, Judy became a part of The Giving Pledge, an initiative started by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates. This pledge asks the wealthiest people in the world to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. Judy has generously pledged to donate 99% of her assets.

Judy created a legacy by single-handedly changing the trajectory of IT, of healthcare and of the lives of hundreds of millions of people for years to come!