Theodore Miller Edison (July 10, 1898 – November 24, 1992) was an American businessman, inventor, and environmentalist. He was the fourth son and youngest child of inventor

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

, and founder of Calibron Industries, Inc. He was the third child of Edison with his second wife,

Mina Miller Edison Mina Miller Edison (July 6, 1865 – August 24, 1947) was an American community activist and the second wife of inventor and industrialist Thomas Edison. She was a community activist in Fort Myers, Florida, known for her work advancing the use o ...

Biography

He was born on July 10, 1898, at Glenmont, the Edison home in Llewellyn Park in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

. He attended

The Haverford School The Haverford School is a Independent school, private, non-sectarian, all-boys college preparatory day school, junior kindergarten through grade twelve. Founded in 1884 as The Haverford College Grammar School, it is located in Haverford, Penns ...

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Lower Merio ...

, and later the Montclair Academy in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

, from which he graduated in 1916. Theodore ended his education at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. He earned a physics degree in 1923 and remained there another year to pursue graduate studies. In 1925, he married Anna Maria (Ann) Osterhout, a graduate of Vassar College. After graduation, Theodore worked for his father's company, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., starting as a lab assistant. He later founded his own company, Calibron Industries, Inc., and built his own smaller laboratory in West Orange. He earned over 80

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s in his career. In later years he became an ardent

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and helped preserve Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in southwest

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, as well as Monhegan Island in Maine. He was also an opponent of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and advocate of

Zero Population Growth Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG, is a condition of demography, demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither population growth, grows nor population decline, declines; that is, the number of bi ...

. He lived in

and died from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

on November 24, 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edison, Theodore 1898 births 1992 deaths American environmentalists American film studio executives American inventors American manufacturing businesspeople Businesspeople from Essex County, New Jersey

Theodore Miller Theodore Miller (May 16, 1816 – August 18, 1895) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Born in Hudson, Columbia County, New York, he was admitted to the bar in 1837. He was District Attorney of Columbia County from 1843 t ...

Montclair Kimberley Academy alumni People from West Orange, New Jersey Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New Jersey