Bancroft Gherardi Jr. (April 6, 1873 – August 14, 1941) was a noted

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, known for his pioneering work in developing the early telephone systems in the United States. Recognized as one of the foremost authorities in telephone engineering, Gherardi was instrumental in developing the transcontinental telephone service in 1915 and the trans-Atlantic radio telephone service in 1927. He was awarded the

IEEE Edison Medal The IEEE Edison Medal is presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering, or the electrical arts." It is the oldest medal in this fi ...

in 1932 for "contributions to the art of telephone engineering and the development of electrical communication".

Education and service

Gherardi was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

on April 6, 1873, son of Bancroft and Anna Talbot (Rockwell) Gherardi. Gherardi received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...

in 1891, and his M.E. and M.M.E degrees from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1893 and 1894, respectively. He received an honorary D. Eng. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1933.

Work

Gherardi is widely recognized as one of the foremost authorities on early telephone engineering for his role in several landmark projects such as the transcontinental telephone service in 1915 and the trans-Atlantic radio telephone service in 1927. He also personally supervised the construction of a "loaded" cable between New York City and Newark, New Jersey, the first such application based on the invention of

Michael I. Pupin Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin ( sr-Cyrl, Михајло Идворски Пупин, ; 4 October 1858Although Pupin's birth year is sometimes given as 1854 (and Serbia and Montenegro issued a postage stamp in 2004 to commemorate the 150th anniversary o ...

that improved the transmission on telephone circuits. Gherardi was a fellow of the

American Institute of Electrical Engineers The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Instit ...

, and served as its president from 1927 to 1928. He was a member of the United Engineering Society,

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

American Standards Association The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing techn ...

, New York Electrical Society, and the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

. He was also inducted into the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...

, and served as the president of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn's alumni association.

References

External links

National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gherardi, Bancroft Jr. 1873 births 1941 deaths Cornell University College of Engineering alumni American electrical engineers American people of Corsican descent Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni 19th-century American engineers 20th-century American engineers Engineers from California People from San Francisco IEEE Edison Medal recipients