Background
Edwin Wilbur Rice was born on May 6, 1862 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, first of the two sons of Edwin Wilbur Rice, by his first wife, Margaret Eliza Williams.
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Edwin Wilbur Rice
Edit ProfileEducation
In 1870 the family moved to Philadelphia, where, at the Central High School, Edwin received the degree of A. B. in 1880 and came into contact with Elihu Thomson, then a teacher there.
Career
His natural fondness for mechanics and later for electricity was quickly developed by this association and when, in 1880, Thomson gave up teaching to become scientific advisor and inventor in connection with the manufacture of electrical apparatus, young Rice gladly accepted an opportunity to become his assistant. He went to New Britain, Connecticut, and for three years was with Thomson in the American Electric Company there and in Philadelphia, engaged in the manufacture of arc lamps and dynamos.
In 1883, when the Thomson-Houston Company was organized and purchased a controlling interest in the American Electric Company, Rice went with Thomson to Lynn, Massachussets, and shortly became plant superintendent. This position he held until the consolidation of the Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric companies to form the General Electric Company.
He first served this concern as technical director, 1884-94; from 1894 to 1913 he was vice-president, and from 1913 to 1922, president, succeeding in that position Charles A. Coffin. Thereafter he was honorary chairman of the board of directors. He contributed much through organization methods, improved factory routine, technical development, and engineering and scientific inventions to the remarkable expansion of the General Electric.
More than a hundred patents stand to his credit. Their range embraces practically the entire field of electrical operations, since in his position he consulted with the entire engineering staff and assisted in every kind of engineering development over a long period. He indorsed and promoted many modern forms of industrial organization and methods of advancing employees' welfare. To him chiefly belongs the credit for the rccognition of the shop workers' part in the success of the corporation. Upon his recommendation in 1900 the General Electric's research laboratory, "House of Magic, " was created and it was he who made Charles P. Steinmetz, the mathematical genius, a member of the company's engineering staff in 1893. His home after 1894 was in Schenectady. He was a trustee of Union College and was honored by several universities.
Achievements
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He is considered one of the three fathers of General Electric. He received in 1931 from the American Institute of Electrical Engineers the Edison medal "for his contributions to the development of electrical systems and apparatus and his encouragement of scientific research in industry. " On January 30, 1901, he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and he was decorated with the Third Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan in 1917.
Membership
He was a member of various engineering societies and was president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1917-18.
Connections
He was twice married: first, on May 28, 1884, to Helen K. Doen of New Britain, Connecticut; and second, August 28, 1897, to Alice M. Doen of New York.
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Born
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Died
January 25, 1935 (aged 72) -
Nationality
American