Charles Edward Kenneth Mees FRS (26 May 1882 – 15 August 1960) was a British

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and photographic researcher.

Early life and education

Mees was born in

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a market town in the North Northamptonshire, Unitary Authority area, England, from London and from Northampton, north of the River Nene. Originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the son of a Wesleyan minister. He attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In 1906 he was awarded his

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

with a dissertation on photographic theory.

Career

From 1906 until 1912, Mees worked for Wratten and Wainwright, Ltd., assisting

Frederick Wratten Frederick Charles Luther Wratten (1840, England – 8 April 1926,Macmillan Biographical Encyclopedia of Photographic Artists & Innovators. By Turner Browne and Elaine Partnow. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, . (MacBEP) London) was an Engli ...

in developing the first

panchromatic A panchromatic emulsion is a type of photographic emulsion that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light, and produces a monochrome photograph—typically black and white. Most modern commercially available film is panchromatic, and the t ...

photographic plates, as well as light filters and safelights for the darkroom. In 1912,

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

Company acquired Wratten and Wainwright because they were interested in the skills Mees provided.

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he ...

convinced Mees to move to Rochester, New York, United States, where Mees created the Kodak Research Laboratories, becoming its first director. Mees helped the US military in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in its instruction of photography. After the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, Mees became an American citizen so that he could have access to high security war projects and information during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Later, he was named vice president in charge of Research and Development for Eastman Kodak; he remained at that position until he retired in 1955. During his career, he published 100 scientific papers and 60 other works. Among his accomplishments was the development of sensitive photographic emulsions for use in

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

. Mees served as the first president of the board of trustees of

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...

from 1947 until 1954. He died suddenly in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

in 1960.

Personal life

He married in 1909 Alice Crisp, and together they raised two children: Graham (1910) and Doris (1912). They were married for 45 years. In 1951 he suffered a massive thrombosis in one leg and lost it to amputation. Despite that, he became adept at using an artificial limb and even managed to drive his own car.

Selected works

* C.E. Kenneth Mees, ''An Atlas of Absorption Spectra'', 1909. * C.E. Kenneth Mees, ''The Photography of Colored Objects'', 1909. * C.E. Kenneth Mees, F. M. Hamer and L. G. S. Brooker. ''Recent advances in sensitizers for the photography of the infrared''. J. Opt. Soc. Am., 23:216., 1933 *C.E. Kenneth Mees, ''Photography'', Macmillan Co., New York, 1942. * C.E. Kenneth Mees,
The Theory of the Photographic Process
', Macmillan Co., New York, 1942. * C.E. Kenneth Mees & S. Sheppard, ''Investigations on the Theory of the Photographic Process''. * C.E. Kenneth Mees, ''The Path of Science'', J. Wiley & sons, inc., 1946. * C.E. Kenneth Mees and John A. Leermakers, ''The Organization of Industrial Scientific Research'', McGraw-Hill, 1950. * C.E. Kenneth Mees, ''From dry plates to Ektachrome film: a story of photographic research'', Ziff-Davis Pub. Co., 1961.

Awards and honors

* Progress Medal, Royal Photographic Society, Great Britain, 1912 and 1952 * Hurter and Driffield Medal, 1924 * Henry Draper Medal,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, 1936. * Progress Medal, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, 1936 * Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, 1937 * Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, 1941 * Member of the United States

, 1950 *

Franklin Medal The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country ...

, 1954 * Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society * Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, 1939 * Inductee, International Photography Hall of Fame, 1972 * Honorary Member of the Optical Society of America, 1957

Legacy

* The C.E.K. Mees Award is the highest research honor given by Kodak. * The C.E.K. Mees Medal, awarded in odd-numbered years by the Optical Society of America, is named after him and was endowed by the Mees family. It has been rewarded annually since 2017. * The

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

's C.E.K. Mees Observatory is named after him. * The crater Mees on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him. * Mees Solar Observatory on the summit of Haleakala is named after him.

References

External links

Dr. C.E. Kenneth Mees (1882–1960)
at iphf.org
Historically speaking - tribute to C.E. Kenneth Mees, scientist and photographer, and former VP at Eastman Kodak

Mees' role in history of infrared photography development and Kodachrome
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mees, Kenneth 1882 births 1960 deaths British physicists Color scientists People from Wellingborough Fellows of the Royal Society George Eastman House people Kodak people Members of the American Philosophical Society Recipients of Franklin Medal