Edwin Wilbur Rice Jr. (6 May 1862 in La Crosse,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

– 25 November 1935 in

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, New York) was a president and considered one of the three fathers of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

(along with

Elihu Thomson Elihu Thomson (March 29, 1853 – March 13, 1937) was an English-born American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electrical companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Early life He was bor ...

and Charles A. Coffin).

Early life

He attended the Boys' Central High School in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and was a student of

. Rice graduated in 1880 and considered going to Yale but decided to join Thomson in New Britain,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, at the American Electric Company as Thomson's assistant at $30 a month.

Career

In 1883 he continued with Thomson, and moved from New Britain to

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

, to work for the newly formed

Thomson-Houston Electric Company The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was a manufacturing company which was one of the precursors of the General Electric company. History The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was formed in 1882 in the United States when a group of Lynn, Massa ...

. There he worked on converting Thomson's inventions into manufactured products. In 1885 he became the factory superintendent when John Meech moved to Europe to head up Thomson-Houston International. Under Rice the Lynn factory grew from almost nothing in 1883 to an enterprise with $10 million in sales and 4,000 employees in 1892. Primary products included arc light systems, electrical generators, dynamos, meters, transformers, and electric motors. By 1892 the primary products were electric trolley car systems and the company had built over 2700 electric trolley cars and 870 electric generator stations. The entire factory reported to Rice and in 1890 supervisors who reported to him included D. M. Barton - Production Manager, I. F. Baker - Mechanical Superintendent, G. E. Emmons - Factory Auditor, W. H. Knight - Chef Electrical Engineer, and A. I. Rohrer - Chef Assistant. In 1892 General Electric Company was created after a merger with Edison General Electric. Rice was originally its technical director. He became, in 1896, vice president in charge of manufacturing and engineering, and eventually senior vice president. In 1913 he was chosen president of the company replacing Charles A. Coffin who moved on to be the chairman of the board of GE. When Rice retired in 1922 was made honorary chairman of the board. Rice was elected president in 1917 of the

American Institute of Electrical Engineers The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Insti ...

(AIEE). In 1931 the AIEE awarded him the

Edison Medal The IEEE Edison Medal is presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering, or the electrical arts." It is the oldest medal in this fi ...

"For his contributions to the development of electrical systems and his encouragement of scientific research in industry."

References

* Hammond, John Winthrop. ''Men and Volts, the Story of General Electric'', publishecd 1941. Citations: personal interest in young experts - 166, steam turbine interest - 275; work on Niagara power plant plans 235; superintendent at Lynn - 87; Thomson-Houston organization plan 102; Technical Director of GE 197; VP in charge of Engineering and Manufacturing 247; President of GE 349; Honorary Chairman of the Board 382. * Carlson, W. Bernard. ''Innovation as Social Progress, Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric, 1870-1900'', published 1991, Cambridge University Press.

External links

IEEE Legacies Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Elwin 1862 births 1935 deaths People from La Crosse, Wisconsin American electrical engineers IEEE Edison Medal recipients General Electric people Members of the American Philosophical Society