David nelson crosthwait biography

David Crosthwait (1898-1976), inventor and authority on heat transfer, ventilation, and air conditioning, was born in Nashville, Tennessee on May 27, 1898 and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri.  At that time, it was relatively rare for an African American man to achieve an esteemed reputation in the sciences, yet that is exactly what he did.

Crosthwait earned a BS from Purdue University in 1913 and a master's degree in engineering in 1920.

A few years after he finished his degrees, he became Research Engineer and Director of Research Laboratories for C.A. Dunham Company, now Marshall Engineered Products Co., in Marshalltown, Iowa, where he worked from 1925 to 1930.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Crosthwait invented an improved boiler, a new thermostat control, and a new differential vacuum pump, all more effective for the heating systems in larger buildings.

He became very well known for his innovative solutions to heating and ventilation problems, and