CHARLES KETTERING

'Charles Franklin Kettering' (August 29, 1876 – November 24 or November 25, 1958), also known as '"Boss" Kettering', was born in Loudonville, Ohio, USA the fourth of five children of Jacob Kettering and Martha Hunter Kettering. He was a farmer, school teacher, mechanic, engineer, scientist, inventor and social philosopher. He had poor eyesight, but acquired an electrical engineering degree from Ohio State University in 1904. While attending Ohio State University he joined the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He held that new ideas can be developed through cooperative team efforts and applied this to a broad range of interests.
Kettering married Olive Williams of Ashland, Ohio, in 1905, and their only child, Eugene Williams Kettering, was born on April 20, 1908.
Kettering held more than 300 U.S. patents. He invented the all-electric starting, ignition, and lighting system for automobiles. All-electric starters replaced crank (manual) starting of automobiles. First incorporated in the 1912 Cadillac, all-electric starting aided in the growth of the U.S. auto industry. His patents included a portable lighting system, Freon, a World War I "aerial torpedo," a treatment for venereal disease, and an incubator for premature infants. His engine-driven generator was combined with storage batteries to form a "Delco Plant", providing an electrical lighting system for farmhouses and other locations remote to the grid.
He developed the idea of Duco paint and ethyl gasoline. He helped develop diesel engines and ways to harness solar energy. He was a pioneer in the application of magnetism to medical diagnostic techniques.
Kettering was a researcher first for National Cash Register, and then for the U.S. automotive industry, founding the Dayton Engineering Laboratories company with Edward A. Deeds and Harold E. Talbott. Delco was eventually sold to General Motors, where it became the foundation for the General Motors Research Corporation and Delco Electronics. Kettering became vice president of General Motors Research Corporation in 1920. He held the position as head of research for General Motors for 27 years.
With Henry Leland, he developed a self-starter for the Cadillac which won a Dewar Trophy as a result in 1913.^[1]
He was heavily involved in the research for a lightweight diesel engine. This research was instrumental in the development of diesel locomotives, the first of which was a 600 h.p. unit that powered the "Pioneer Zephyr" for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. In an interview about this research, he was asked if the development of this type of engine presented any unusual problems. His classic response was, "Let it suffice to say that I don't recall having any trouble with the 'dipstick'".
Kettering and Deeds had a lifelong business, professional and personal relationship. In 1914, recognizing that Dayton was among the leading industrial cities in the United States due to the various highly-skilled engineers and technicians working in the city, they founded the Engineers Club of Dayton. After his death, his body lay in honor at the Engineers Club prior to interment in the mausoleum at Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.
In 1998, GMI Engineering and Management Institute (formerly General Motors Institute), of Flint, Michigan, changed its name to Kettering University in honor of Charles "Boss" Kettering. His ideals, prowess, and belief in co-operative education continue there. Kettering is also remembered in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a combined cancer research and treatment center in New York City.
As its most prestigious resident, the city of Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, was named after him when it was incorporated in 1955. His home, Ridgeleigh Terrace, was built in 1914 and was the first house in the United States to have air conditioning. Ridgeleigh Terrace was the home of his son Eugene Kettering until his death. Eugene's wife, Virginia Kettering, lived in the home for many years, restoring the home and redecorating it. In 1994, the home was seriously damaged in a fire, but Virginia Kettering, then in her 80s restored it. She continued to live there until she moved to a suite in the nearby Charles F. Kettering hospital when in her 90s.

Contents

Patents

External links

Patents

★ Engine Starting Device, Filing date: Jun 15, 1911

External links

★ Kettering Foundation

★ All-electric starting and Freon

★ Inventor Hall of Fame

★ Article includes a photo of Ridgeleigh Terrace

★ Charles F. Kettering Memorial Hospital

★ Engineers Club of Dayton

★ Biography of Charles Kettering

★ Today in Science History - collection of radio talks given by Kettering in 1942-1945 on science and invention, including transportation.