A major in physics at the University of Minnesota did not prevent Jim Sedin from earning two varsity letters in hockey and he also captained the Golden Gophers team. After graduation, the St. Paul native played for the 1952 U.S. Olympic team.
After college Sedin earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and physics at Cal Tech. He then joined tech startup Watkins Johnson, but he later started his own computer peripheral company, Ryka Scientific, which he sold to Varian Medical Systems in 1972. In 1975 Sedin was named CEO of Mountain Computer in Cupertino, California, retiring from that position in 1991.