John William Lieb (February 12, 1860, in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...]
) was an American
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 ...
for the
Edison Electric Light Company
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energy ...
. Lieb was president 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 ...
from 1904 to 1905. He received 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 ...
for "the development and operation of electric central stations for illumination and power."
Early life
John Lieb was born on February 12, 1860, in Newark New Jersey. His father was a leather worker. He went to the local public school, then went to the private school,
Newark Academy
Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in sixth through twelfth grades. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Col ...
, for high school. During the summer of 1875, Lieb went to the prep school for
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...
. The following fall Lieb enrolled in Stevens as a Mechanical engineer.
Stevens
Lieb entered college at a time where there were new waves happening in the electrical industry. Even though Lieb was studying mechanical engineering, he became interested in electricity. In 1877, Lieb and some classmate helped install a Brush arc light system on the
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
Pier. Right before graduation Lieb in 1880, Lieb visited
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
's lab at
Menlo Park, where he saw the newly invented incandescent light bulb. This new experience and his experience with the Brush arc lighting system led him to join the
Brush Electric Company
Brush Electrical Machines is a manufacturer of electrical generators typically for gas turbine and steam turbine driven applications. The main office is based at Loughborough in Leicestershire, UK.
History
Charles Francis Brush, born in Eucli ...
in Cleveland.
Career
Lieb was hired as a draftsman for the Brush Electric Company, but soon was trained to become a manager and conductor at a central station. During his 1880 Christmas holiday, Lieb was visiting family at home. He meet with Edison, and asked for a job with him. Edison hired him, and Lieb started working for him in January 1881. Lieb was assigned to Edison's office in New York City, where he also worked as a draftsman in the engineering department. He was quickly assigned to
Edison Machine Works
The Edison Machine Works was a manufacturing company set up to produce dynamos, large electric motors, and other components of the electrical illumination system being built in the 1880s by Thomas A. Edison in New York City.
History
The need for ...
where he worked on designing the generators for the Pearl Street generating system. When the station opened in 1882, Lieb was placed in charge.
Milan
When Italian Giuseppe Colombo visited the Edison Machine Works site to observe tests for dynamos for a station in Milan, he became impressed with Lieb. Colombo requested that Lieb oversee the installation of the plant in Milan for the Italian Edison Company. When the plant became operational in March 1883, Lieb was assigned chief electrician of the plant. Soon after this, Lieb was assigned as chief electrician for the entire Italian Edison Company, which later was renamed Societa Generale Italiana di Elettricita Sistema Edison that year. The company began to more central power stations during the second half of the 1880s, where Lieb was supervising the installation. The Milan station was one of the first stations to install an AC distribution system in 1886. While in Italy, Lieb ran experiments with direct driven alternators connected in parallel, and also installed Thomson-Houston arc lighting for the streets in the city. in early 1893 Lieb helped install Milan's first electric trolley line.
Late career
In 1894 Lieb returned to the United States. When he returned he became assistant to R.R. Bowker, the vice-president of Edison Electric Illuminating Company in New York, which later became New York Edison. He became general manager and later vice-president for Edison Electric Illuminating Company. He was in charge of the company's technical operations, installation and operation of central stations and electrical distribution systems, and supervision of all research and development. At the time of his death he was senior vice president of New York Edison and president of Electrical Testing Laboratories, which he found.
Personal life and achievements
Lieb married Minnie F. Engler while he was visiting the United States in 1886. He had three children with her. He was president of
AIEE
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 Institu ...
from 1904 to 1905. In 1923 Lieb won the
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 ...
from AIEE "For the development and operation of electric central stations for illumination and power." During his time in Italy he became a member of
Raccolta Vinciana
The ''Raccolta'' (literally, "collection" in Italian), is a book, published in many editions from 1807 to 1952, that collected the texts of Roman Catholic prayers and briefly described other acts of piety, such as visiting and praying in particula ...
of Milan, and continued to pursue his interest in
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
by collecting a large library of his work.
He was also made Knight Commander of the Royal Order of the Crown of Italy, and later promoted to Grand Officer. He was also made an officer of the French Legion of Honor. He also spoke 4 languages fluently. He was the president of National Electric Light Association, The Edison Pioneers, and the New York Electrical Society.
[http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/images/d/d2/Lieb_-_correspondence_regarding_and_including_biographical_materials_for_edison_medal.pdf ] In 1921 he received an honorary doctorate degree from Stevens Institute of Technology.
References
External links
*
BiographyPapers of J.W. Lieb Jr.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieb, John W.
1860 births
1929 deaths
IEEE Edison Medal recipients
People from Newark, New Jersey
People from New Rochelle, New York