Background
Bushnell was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota and raised in Los Angeles, California.
Bushnell was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota and raised in Los Angeles, California.
From 1930 to 1933, he studied engineering at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), paying for his tuition by selling newspapers.
Through a strategy of importation from foreign manufacturers who provided optics to his specifications, Bushnell made binoculars widely available to middle-class Americans for the first time. As of 2006, Bushnell Optical remained the leading seller of binoculars in the United States. He then dropped out to travel around the world.
Bushnell returned after 8 months and attended the University of Southern California where he earned a business degree in 1936.
After graduation, Bushnell began an import-export business, which included importing Belgian cement and Iranian bracelets, and exporting asbestos and old Salvation Army shoes to China. During World World War II, Bushnell worked for Lockheed.
Binoculars were soon joined by riflescopes and various other optical equipment, such as spotting scopes and telescopes. Half of a pair of Bushnell Custom Compact binoculars served as part of the backup navigation system in a Gemini space flight.
Bushnell sold his company to Bausch & Lomb (B&L) in 1971 and retired in 1974 as a vice-president of B&L.
In 2005, Bushnell died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma at his home in Laguna Beach, California, a week before his 92nd birthday.