Jim Moran's Legacy


Jim Moran’s Legacy with Heart and Vascular Services

Jim and Jan Moran

From humble beginnings in Chicago, Jim Moran was an entrepreneur at heart.  After saving every penny he could, he bought a Sinclair gas station for $360, soon turning it into the highest volume and most profitable Sinclair station in Chicago.  During World War II, he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army due to a heart condition.  Through his skills and innovation in advertising and marketing, he went on to build his Hudson and then Ford dealerships into the world's largest.  He was a pioneer in the use of television to sell cars and his success on TV as “Jim Moran, The Courtesy Man” also gave him an opportunity to fund raise and support numerous charities and causes, including the Chicago Heart Association.

After leaving Chicago to retire in Florida to battle – and win – a cancer diagnosis, he established Southeast Toyota Distributors in 1968.  Other automotive-related businesses followed, including parent company JM Family Enterprises, Inc., now one of the largest, privately-held diversified companies in the automotive industry.   Jim Moran was presented with the prestigious Horatio Alger Award in 1996, an honor given to distinguished Americans who have risen from humble beginnings, overcome incredible obstacles, achieved success through hard work and determination, and are strongly committed to community service.  In 2005, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, the highest honor in the international motor vehicle industry.

Jim Moran donated $1 million to Holy Cross Hospital for a cardiovascular intensive care unit after undergoing life-saving, open-heart surgery here in 1988.  In 2000, Jim and Jan Moran and JM Family Enterprises, Inc. contributed $6 million for the construction of the Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Center. The Center specializes in the education, prevention, detection and treatment of cardiac and vascular diseases.

Not content to stop there, in 2006 they created a $26 million challenge - The Moran Challenge - and pledged $10 million to create the Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Research Institute to bring early-stage clinical trials in heart and vascular medicine to our community. The Moran Challenge matched $1.00 for every $1.60 contributed up to $16 million for this vital research.  In the spring of 2016, the Challenge’s $26 million milestone was met, thanks to the generosity of Jim and Jan Moran, JM Family Enterprises, Inc., and community donors, fulfilling Jim Moran’s dream to establish a world-class research institute that would help save lives. 

The vision of the Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Research Institute is to:

  • Advance medical discoveries into effective therapies
  • Offer new and innovative therapies earlier to patients in our community
  • Apply high-level, cutting-edge science to clinical practice providing more options to patients
  • Attract leading physicians, studies, and therapies from around the world for the advancement of science and better care of our patients locally

The Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Research Institute is in a unique position to attract research studies evaluating the most advanced technology and therapies for heart and vascular disease. It continuously strives to expand its offerings with more clinical trials and potentially life-saving treatments to patients not available through current standard of care.   By collaborating with industry, academic medical centers and other translational research institutions, the Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Center and Research Institute at Holy Cross Hospital are poised to be the preeminent heart and vascular providers in South Florida and a bridge for extending therapeutic advances to our patients and community.

To learn more about Jim Moran and his inspiring legacy, visit www.jimmoranfoundation.org.