Immelt-Goodell connection led to $40M concussion project between GE, NFL

Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and chief executive officer of General Electric Co. (left) and Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, during a news conference in New York City in March.

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt?s love of football and his friendship with National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell brought the two organizations together on a $40 million research-and-development partnership to improve diagnosis and treatment of athlete concussions.

The idea was hatched in October 2012 when Immelt and Goodell both were in Columbus, Ohio, and Goodell joined Immelt on some GE client visits, according to FastCompany. The two organizations announced the initiative in March.

?Jeff Immelt and Roger Goodell are friends,? Jeff Miller, the NFL?s senior vice president of health and safety policy told me. ?They were together at a GE event in Columbus. They discussed their mutual interest in concussions, head injuries and health.?

Immelt not only loves watching NFL games, he also played offensive line at Dartmouth, where he received the Earl Hamilton Varsity Award for friendship and character. He received his bachelor?s degree at Dartmouth in applied mathematics and economics and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

?Our CEO is a fan of the NFL and played in college ? he is a big fan of the sport,? said Richard Hausmann, president and CEO of GE Healthcare?s global MR business in Waukesha.

The combination of GE Healthcare, which is the world leader in magnetic resonance imaging technology, and the NFL seem like a natural for this project.

As I report in this week?s print edition of The Business Journal, GE Healthcare?s Waukesha staff is fast-tracking development of MRI equipment customized to detect brain injuries in both professional and amateur football players and athletes in other contact sports.

Rich Kirchen is The Business Journal's senior reporter. He covers health care, insurance, politics, media and marketing/advertising.

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