Inventors

Willem J. Kolff (1911–2009) was a Dutch-born physician and biomedical pioneer who invented the first practical artificial kidney and helped develop artificial organs, including early artificial heart technology, saving countless patients suffering from kidney and heart failure.

William B. Kouwenhoven (1886–1975) was an American electrical engineer and researcher whose work led to the development of the cardiac defibrillator and modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), revolutionizing emergency treatment for cardiac arrest.

David Neeleman (b. 1959) is a Brazilian-born American entrepreneur and airline executive best known as the founder of JetBlue Airways. A pioneer of low-cost airline models, he previously co-founded Morris Air and later helped launch several international airlines.

Ray Noorda (1924–2006) was an American technology executive and entrepreneur known as the “Father of Network Computing.” As CEO of Novell from 1982 to 1994, he transformed the struggling company into a global leader in network software with its NetWare operating system.

David Van Nostrand (1811–1886) was an American publisher and bookseller who founded the D. Van Nostrand Company in New York in 1848. The firm became a leading publisher of scientific, engineering, and technical works throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Alfred Peet (1920–2007) was a Dutch-American coffee roaster and entrepreneur who helped launch the American specialty coffee movement. Founder of Peet’s Coffee & Tea in Berkeley in 1966, he influenced the founders of Starbucks and transformed U.S. coffee culture.

Nicholas Roosevelt (1767–1854) was an American inventor and engineer who helped develop early steamboat technology. He introduced the vertical paddle wheel used on riverboats and worked with Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton on the steamboat New Orleans, helping launch the era of Mississippi River steam navigation.

John Theodore Scheepers (1878–1939) was a Dutch-American horticultural entrepreneur known as the “Tulip King” for popularizing tulips in the United States during the early twentieth century. He founded John Scheepers, Inc., a flower bulb importing company that helped expand tulip cultivation and garden culture across North America.

Cornelius Vanderbilt III was an American engineer, inventor, and National Guard officer. A grandson of railroad magnate William H. Vanderbilt, he earned numerous patents, helped advance New York’s subway system, and served as a brigadier general during World War I.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II was an American railroad executive and heir to the Vanderbilt fortune. As president of the New York Central Railroad, he managed the family empire and supported major philanthropic institutions before his death in 1899.