Willis Carrier is widely regarded as the father of modern refrigeration and air conditioning. Carrier received more than 80 patents over 50 years in the field of air conditioning. He was the founder and chief executive officer of the giant Carrier Corporation, one of the largest manufacturing companies in the United States, and his name has become almost synonymous with air conditioning.

Willis Haviland Carrier, an only child, was born on November 26, 1876, to Duane and Elizabeth Carrier, in Angola, New York. He received his secondary education in the local school system and also attended the Buffalo General High School. Carrier won a competitive scholarship to study mechanical engineering at Cornel University in Ithaca, New York.

Carrier graduated from Cornell in 1901, and accepted a position as an engineer with the Buffalo Forge Company in Buffalo, New York. From the beginning of his career, he was determined to put mechanical engineering on...