Martin Naughton is the founder and chairman of the Glen Dimplex Group. He started the company in 1973 as Glen Electric, with a mere ten employees, later acquiring Dimplex, the leading brand in the U.K. heating market.

An engineer by profession, Naughton has overseen his company’s growth to become the world’s largest manufacturer in domestic heating appliances.

A longtime supporter of the University of Notre Dame, in both a civic and philanthropic manner, Naughton was honored by the university in 2006 by renaming their Institute for Irish Studies as the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies (Donald Keough, another of our Business 100,  was the original benefactor of the Institute). Naughton has served on Notre Dame’s Board of Directors since 1991. He co-founded the university’s Ireland Council, and received an honorary Doctor of Science in 1998. He is chairman of InterTrade-Ireland, a cross-border and business trade group, and has been extremely active in promoting peace in Ireland through economic ties. Naughton resides in County Meath.