Augustine L. Nieto II (February 15, 1958 – February 22, 2023) was the founder and chief executive of

Life Fitness Life Fitness / Hammer Strength is an American fitness company specializing in the production and distribution of cardiovascular and strength training equipment under several brands including Life Fitness, Cybex and Hammer Strength. It is headqua ...

, as well as the chairman of Augie's Quest to Cure ALS, and the

ALS Therapy Development Institute The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) is a non-profit biotechnology research organization focused on finding treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). With a staff including more than 30 scientists, it operates a research and d ...

. He and his wife, Lynne, lived in Corona Del Mar, California, and had four children and eight grandchildren. He was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(ALS) disease in 2005, and established "Augie's Quest to Cure ALS", which has raised over $75 million in funds for research into the disease. A documentary titled, "Augie" was released in 2017. Advances in technological communication using brain wave detection in patients with physical challenges that impacted their ability to speak was mentioned in Through the Wormhole, with Morgan Freeman Season 4, Episode 6 in 2013. Augie Nieto's involvement in helping scientists improve the technology was featured in this episode.

Career

In 1977, Nieto founded Lifecycle with an exercise bike of the same name. In 1984, he sold the company to

Bally Total Fitness Bally Total Fitness was an American Health club, fitness club chain. At its 2007 peak, prior to the filing of the first of two Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code, Chapter 11 bankruptcies, Bally operated nearly 440 facilities located in 29 U. ...

, but was soon named president of the combined company, Life Fitness. He left as an executive of the company upon its acquisition by the

Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees in ...

. In 2001, Nieto became an Operating Advisor for North Castle Partners, a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm. As part of his position, he served on the boards of Curves International, Jenny Craig, and HydroMassage, all North Castle investments. Additionally, he was a former board member of Octane Fitness,

Quest Software Quest Software, also known as Quest, is a privately held software company headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, United States. Quest provides cloud management, software as a service, security, workforce mobility, and backup & recovery. The co ...

and DynaVox. As a board member of

, he was part of a committee that helped to negotiate the sale of the company to

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

in 2012.

Augie's Quest

In March 2005, Nieto was diagnosed with

, more commonly known as

Lou Gehrig's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and lo ...

. After diagnosis, he partnered with the

Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related Neuromuscular disease, neuromuscular diseases. Founded in 1950 by Paul Cohen, who lived wi ...

(MDA) and created "Augie's Quest" with the sole purpose of finding a cure for ALS. Funds he raised went completely to research, as administrative costs were covered by MDA. In 2014, Augie's Quest officially transitioned from MDA to the

, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

biotech Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...

and in 2018, Augie's Quest to Cure ALS became a stand-alone non-profit. Since 2006, Augie's Quest and ALS TDI have raised over $150 million for research under Augie's leadership.

Five for Fighting song

In 2009, John Ondrasik of

Five for Fighting Vladimir John Ondrasik III (born January 7, 1965), also known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He is best known for his piano-based soft rock, such as the top 40 hits " Superman (It's Not Easy)" ...

wrote a song in Nieto's honor on his album Slice to help raise awareness and funds for Augie's Quest.

Awards

Nieto received the EY Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award for the Orange County Region in 2007. In September 2015, he received the fitness industry's top honor, the Club Industry Lifetime Achievement Award.

References

Bibliography

* ''Reciprocity, Incorporated''. Infinity Publishing. 2010. . * ''Augie's Quest: One Man's Journey from Success to Significance''. Bloomsbury. 2007. .

External links

Augie's Quest

ALS Therapy Development Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieto, Augie 1958 births 2023 deaths American health activists Deaths from motor neuron disease in the United States Hispanic and Latino American people American activists with disabilities