Kevin Oscar Newton Kalkhoven (1944 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian venture capitalist and

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

magnate based in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was CEO of JDS Uniphase and was an investor in Cosworth Group Holdings Limited, an automotive technology business headquartered in Northampton, United Kingdom. In July 2018 Kalkhoven was given an honorary doctorate by The University of Northampton. Kalkhoven was a team owner of KV Racing Technology, with business partner Jimmy Vasser, which won the 2013 Indianapolis 500, driven by Tony Kanaan.

JDS Uniphase Corporation

Kalkhoven joined the Uniphase Corporation in 1992 as President, CEO and Chairman. Kalkhoven oversaw its transformation from a privately held manufacturer of industrial lasers into a publicly held supplier of components and modules for fibre optic telecommunications networks and saw Uniphase become a member of the NASDAQ 100. During Kalkhoven's tenure, as CEO, the Company’s annual sales rate increased over 67 times ( sic) from $23 million in fiscal 1991 to the $394 million reported for the quarter ended 31 March 2000. Additionally, the market cap of Uniphase grew from $35 million to $100 billion. Kalkhoven oversaw the merger with JDS FITEL in July 1999 and the emergence of the combined entity in the fibre optic components and modules marketplace. Kalkhoven was named in the May 2000 ''Worth'' magazine as one of America’s Top 50 CEOs.

Motorsport interests

In 2003, Kalkhoven became one of the owners of the Champ Car World Series, with Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Dan Pettit under the name OWRS, or Open-Wheel Racing Series, along with purchasing the rights to major races in Toronto and Long Beach as strategic measures to ensure the future of the Champ Car series. That same year, Kalkhoven co-founded PK Racing (later known as PKV Racing and KV Racing Technology) together with British American Racing founder Craig Pollock. The team competed in both the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar series, amassing five wins, including the 2013 Indianapolis 500, with driver Tony Kanaan. In March 2008, Champ Car reached an agreement with Tony George, owner of the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

, to merge the two series under the IndyCar Series banner for 2008 and beyond. Kalkhoven was named as the Number 5 Most Powerful and Influential man in '' Racer Magazines 2005 Power and Influence in Racing list (November 2005 issue).

Cosworth

Kalkhoven purchased the

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

and Pi Group companies from Ford in 2004 with business partner Gerald Forsythe. Kalkhoven was chairman of the now-merged companies and he led the transition of the company from a motor-racing centric cost-centre to a profitable automotive technology company with

LIDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

sensor technology and hybrid powertrains. Under his stewardship Cosworth designed, developed and commercialized the Advanced Manufacturing Centre in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

and established its North American Headquarters and Advanced Manufacturing Center in Shelby Township, Michigan.

Philanthropy

Kalkhoven was on the board of directors of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, which benefits children with serious and life-threatening medical conditions. He was a benefactor of the

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

and has donated substantially to the Canary Foundation, which is dedicated to the early detection of cancer. Kalkhoven was a trustee of the Lizard Island Marine Research Station on Australia’s Barrier Reef. In addition, Kalkhoven was a donor to the Ansari X Prize, a competition to build privately funded crewed passenger spacecraft.

Personal life and death

Kalkhoven was educated at the Whitgift School in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, England. After leaving school he joined Mobil in Sevenoaks, England before joining

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

as a systems analyst. He was also an avid aviator (he was a licensed commercial pilot and has extensive experience flying a variety of aircraft including Gulfstream intercontinental jets), and enjoyed alpine skiing, scuba diving, and wine-making. Kalkhoven resided in the Bay Area bedroom community of

Alamo, California Alamo ( Spanish: ''Álamo''; meaning " Poplar tree") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, in the United States. It is a suburb located in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay r ...

on a 1,200 acre hillside estate. He died on January 4, 2022, at the age of 77.Former Champ Car owner Kevin Kalkhoven dies, aged 77
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalkhoven, Kevin 1944 births 2022 deaths American chief executives of manufacturing companies Auto racing executives Australian businesspeople Australian motorsport people IndyCar Series team owners People from Menlo Park, California People educated at Whitgift School