EXPERT ON:
◉ Inspirational Life Story
◉ Motivation & Mindset
◉ Entrepreneurship & Innovation
◉ Goal Setting & Achievement
◉ Legacy & Calling
EXPERIENCE:
◉ Visionary entrepreneur whose quiet, values-driven leadership helped transform healthcare, medical devices, and digital commerce while remaining deeply rooted in his Cleveland community.
◉ Co-founder and CFO of STERIS Corporation, where he helped grow a medical device startup into a billion-dollar company in twelve years, and founder of CardinalCommerce, which became the world’s largest digital authentication company before its acquisition by Visa.
◉ Named inventor of 70+ U.S. and international patents with over 100 pending applications, serving on prestigious boards and think tanks, and recognized for measuring success not only by innovation and valuation, but by lasting impact and principled leadership.
Michael A. Keresman III is a visionary entrepreneur whose quiet leadership has transformed entire industries while staying true to his Cleveland roots.
Fresh out of John Carroll University in the 1980s, Keresman helped create America’s first state-wide Health Maintenance Organization, pioneering managed care principles that would revolutionize healthcare delivery nationwide. His actuarial insights didn’t just change how we think about healthcare—they fundamentally altered how business operates globally.
As co-founder and CFO of STERIS Corporation, STERIS transformed a medical device startup into a billion-dollar company in just twelve years, proving that principled leadership and Wall Street success aren’t mutually exclusive.
But perhaps his most audacious move came in 1999, when he walked away from executive comfort to solve a problem everyone said was impossible: making internet commerce truly secure. CardinalCommerce became the world’s largest digital authentication company through sheer innovation and relentless focus on doing things right rather than doing things fast.
When Visa acquired CardinalCommerce in 2017, it kept the entire operation in Cleveland, recognizing that Keresman and his co-founders had built something too valuable to dismantle. The acquisition validated not just his technology, but his belief that world-changing innovation doesn’t require abandoning your values or your community.
Named inventor of over 70 U.S. and international patents with more than 100 pending applications, Keresman serves on prestigious institutional boards and government think tanks.
He graduated from John Carroll University and holds an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration from Lake Erie College, and has served as President of Kirtland Country Club.
Yet for all his achievements, Keresman remains refreshingly grounded; a leader who measures success not just in valuations and patents, but in lives improved and principles preserved.
In Quietly Spectacular, he shares the hard-earned wisdom that authentic success comes not from making noise, but from making a difference.
