Robert C. Sprague (August 2, 1900 – September 27, 1991) was the son of

Frank J. Sprague Frank Julian Sprague (July 25, 1857 in Milford, Connecticut – October 25, 1934) was an American inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. His contributions were especially ...

and Harriet Sprague. Sprague founded

Sprague Electric Sprague Electric Company was an electronic component maker founded by Robert C. Sprague in 1926. Sprague was best known for making a large line of capacitors used in a wide variety of electrical and electronic in commercial, industrial and milit ...

(originally Sprague Specialties Company),

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

in 1926, and served as president from 1926-1953 and chief executive from 1953-1971. He invented the tone control for radio and the paper capacitor that launched his business. Sprague was appointed by President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

to serve as Undersecretary to the Air Force in 1953. He first accepted, then declined the position, due to financial difficulties.

Education and early career

After graduating from

The Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a coeducational preparatory school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States. Hotchkiss is a member of the Eight Schools Association and Ten Schools Admissions Organization. It is also a former member of the G30 Schools gr ...

in 1918, Robert Sprague went to the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in Annapolis like his father Frank, who was a business associate to

Thomas Alva 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 invention ...

. He later attended the Naval Post Graduate School and completed his graduate program at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). While a naval officer he invented the tone control for amplifiers and radio sets. In 1921 he married Florence Antoinette van Zelm. They were married until her death in 1987. Sprague patented the paper condenser (capacitor) and tone control in 1926, and this provided the capital to start a business.

Sprague Electric

Sprague founded Sprague Specialties Company in 1926 in

; it moved to North Adams in 1930. Sprague was an electronic component maker best known for making a large line of

capacitors A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals. The effect of a ...

used in a wide variety of electrical and electronic in commercial, industrial and military/space applications. Other products include resistive components, magnetic components (

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s and coils), filter assemblies,

semiconductors A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

and

integrated circuits An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

. The company was renamed Sprague Electric in 1942. Sprague had two brothers, Frank Desmond, and Julian Sprague, who assisted in company operations.

Family and philanthropy

During his business life, Robert Sprague served on the board for the following organizations and businesses: *

* MITRE Corporation *

First National Bank of Boston BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. One of its predecessor banks started in 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 199 ...

Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Draper Laboratory is an American non-profit research and development organization, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts; its official name is The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc (sometimes abbreviated as CSDL). The laboratory specialize ...

* Associated Industries of Massachusetts * Massachusetts Science and Technology Foundation *

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all of Connecticut except ...

Other Notable Awards, Memberships and Appointments * Member

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

(IEEE) *

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Sup ...

for the Advisory Committee on Capacitors (1942-1945) * Appointed by President Eisenhower as Undersecretary to the Air Force in 1953 * Appointed by President Eisenhower to the Security Resources Board-

Office of Defense Mobilization The Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM) was an independent agency of the United States government whose function was to plan, coordinate, direct and control all wartime mobilization activities of the federal government, including manpower, economic ...

in 1957 * Elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

1985 * Holder of 19 patents Robert C. Sprague was the driving force behind the annual

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

. Aside from business and family, theater arts was his greatest love. In the 1940s he (as Sprague Electric) sponsored a symphony orchestra which later became the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

. In addition his favorite sport was skiing. He was the author of two books ("Sprague Electric" of North Adams: a pioneer in electronics in New England, Newcomen Publishing (1958) and Parallel Skiing for Weekend Skiers, self-published (1970). Robert and his wife Florence Antoinette van Zelm had two children, Robert C. Sprague Jr and (Dr.) John L. Sprague. John L. Sprague was head of Sprague Electric from 1981 until its closing in 1993. Robert C. Sprague died at home in Williamstown, Mass on September 27, 1991.

Education and early career

Sprague Electric

Family and philanthropy

References

Further reading