Frederick Morrell Zeder

Frederick Morrell Zeder (March 19, 1886 – February 24, 1951) was an American automotive industry engineer and a member of the Automotive Hall of Fame. He made material contributions to Allis-Chalmers (industrial machinery) and Studebaker (pioneer automobile manufacturer). Along with Carl Breer and Owen Skelton, he was one of the core engineering team that formed the present-day Chrysler Corporation. His innovations included rubber motor mounts that contributed to Chrysler's success. He was the first president of Chrysler's Institute of Engineering.

Early life

Zeder was of Irish descent, and was born on March 19, 1886. At this time his family lived in Bay City, Michigan. Zeder's parents were Rudolph John Zeder from New York and Matilta Jane (McKendry) Zeder from Canada. Frederick had four brothers and one sister. He had little formal schooling at the Bay City public schools and was put to work earning income for the family at the age of 11.Fred Zeder, Vice President in Charge of Engineering
/ref> His first job was as a machinist's apprentice for Industrial Works of Bay City, a manufacturer of railroad cranes. At age 12 he was a railroad call boy, responsible for waking up the train crew in the morning, for $30 a month (). He was then employed by the Michigan Central Railroad, where he oversaw railroad car axles ensuring they were properly oiled and greased.

Middle life

While at high school, Zeder became a machinist at Michigan Central Railroad in their Motive Power and Train Divisions. After graduating from the public high school at Bay City in 1905, Zeder attended University of Michigan and worked part-time. He graduated from the university in 1909 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.

Career

Allis-Chalmers

In 1909, after graduating from the University of Michigan, Zeder was hired by the Allis-Chalmers Company in West Allis, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee, for their apprentice course as an erecting engineer.
There he met Carl Breer as another attendee of the course. Allis-Chalmers selected twenty-five of the best students of mechanical engineering from top universities of the United States. Zeder was a college graduate from the University of Michigan and Breer was a graduate from Stanford University. Zeder and Breer became close friends during their training at Allis-Chalmers.

Studebaker to Willys

Zeder then was hired in 1910 to help build a power plant in Detroit. His next job, later that year, was at the E-M-F automobile company in Detroit taking charge of their engineering laboratory working on car body design, while still a consultant of the Detroit power plant construction project for the Engineers' Manufacturing Company. The Studebaker brothers, who were horse-drawn wagon builders, bought the E-M-F automobile company in 1912 to produce Studebaker automobiles. Zeder became a consulting engineer for them, using his university knowledge of mechanics and mathematics in laboratory-controlled conditions. In 1914, at the age of 28, he became Studebaker's chief engineer.

The Three Musketeers

Studebaker reached its production peak in 1916, but it had major financial problems and was close to bankruptcy. Zeder saw this as a weakness in the engineering department and hired two key knowledgeable mechanical engineers, Carl Breer and Owen Skelton, to form a new engineering nucleus. These three engineers were referred to as "The Three Musketeers" by those who knew them. Zeder was the vice president of Studebaker, his main job being in charge of engineering. Breer, because of his analytical skills, was made the director of research laboratories. Skelton was put in charge of design.

When Zeder enticed Breer to come over to Studebaker to work with him in their engineering department their relationship became close. Breer even married one of Zeder's sisters. Of the three engineers Zeder was considered the key front man because of his charismatic personality and advanced engineering talents. Skelton had engineering talents for engines and transmissions and Breer had technical engineering design abilities. Zeder was the chief engineer at Studebaker until 1920. In 1921, he became president of Zeder-Skelton-Breer Engineering Company that the three of them formed in Newark, New Jersey

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases