1912
Research Corporation (RC) was founded in 1912 by Frederick Gardner Cottrell, inventor of the electrostatic precipitator. He started with $10,100 invested by the original board of directors: academics, scientists, lawyers and bankers, who provided funding for the fledgling organization, and served without compensation. The board of directors shared Cottrell’s altruistic goal of acquiring inventions and patents (including the electrostatic precipitator), developing them, making them available to industry under licensing, and applying all profits to support investigations in fundamental scientific research.
The members of the original Board of Directors were an interesting group:
William L. Dudley was Chair of chemistry at Vanderbilt University, was on the governing council for ACS and involved with AAAS. He served on the Research Corporation board for one year, 1912.
Thomas Coleman du Pont was an engineer, politician, graduate in engineering of MIT and president of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company explosives business. He was on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1930.
Frederick A. Goetze was Dean of Faculty of Applied Science at Columbia. He served on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1950.
Hennen Jenning was a graduate of Harvard and a mining engineer. His work took him to mining operations in Venezuela, England and South Africa; he also served as a consulting engineer to the U.S. Bureau of Mines. He served on the Research Corporation board from 1912 until 1920.
Elon Huntington Hooker received degrees in engineering from both University of Rochester and Cornell, then continued his studies at Zurich Polytechnic in Switzerland and the Ecole des Ponts et Chausees (“National School of Bridges and Roads”) in Paris. In 1898, he served on a commission of engineers who inspected and compared the Panama and Nicaragua canal routes. The same year, then-governor Theodore Roosevelt appointed him deputy superintendent of Public Works of New York State. Hooker was an energy pioneer who harnessed the hydroelectric power produced by Niagara Falls to produce caustic soda and chlorine, widely used industrial cleaners at that time. He established Hooker Electrochemical Company around 1909. He served as Research Corporation’s first president, from 1915 until 1922.
Benjamin B. Lawrence was a consulting engineer, involved in building the Panama Canal. His offices at 60 Wall Street were next door to Research Corporation. Lawrence was on Research Corporation board from 1912 until 1921.
Arthur D. Little was an MIT chemist who discovered the first acetate fiber. He founded the world’s first management consultancy in 1886, pioneering the concept of contracted technology research. The company’s slogan was “Other peoples’ troubles are our business.” He served on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1921.
John B. Pine graduated from Columbia University, practiced law on Wall Street and was on the Board of Directors of Columbia. He wrote a number of books, served on the board of St. Luke’s Hospital, was a trustee of Gramercy Park and led the campaign for adoption of the NY state flag. In 1916, the year after the flag was adopted, Pine wrote the lyrics to “The Orange, White and Blue,” a song with music by Victor Herbert that honored the new flag. He served on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1922.
Mark S. Reardon III was an attorney. He served on the Research Corporation board for one year only, 1912.
Lloyd N. Scott was a Wall Street lawyer and served on the Naval Consulting Board during World War I. He was on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1915, and again from 1923 to 1947.
Charles A. Stone studied electrical engineering at MIT, and founded Stone and Webster, one of the earliest electrical engineering consulting firms in the U.S. He served on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1921, and from 1929 to 1941.
James J. Storrow was a Boston investment banker who was instrumental in forming General Motors and became its third president. He was the second national president of Boy Scouts of America. In 1910, he led a campaign to dam the Charles River to create the Charles River Basin, which eliminated tidal harbor pollution and odors, and preserved and improved the riverbanks as a public park. He was a member of the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1918.
Elihu Thomson was an electrical engineer involved in developing early electric light and power systems in the U.S. He held over 700 patents including ones for dynamos, generators, railways and steam engines. Thomson conducted pioneering research in alternating currents and high frequency; he also studied astronomy, refracting telescopes, optics and x-rays. With Thomas Edison, he formed General Electric, and he was president of MIT from 1920 to 1923. He served on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1913.
Charles D. Walcott was Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and instrumental in the founding of Research Corporation. He was on the Research Corporation board from 1912 to 1927.