Lee de Forest

Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use of electronics. He is also credited with one of the principal inventions that brought sound to motion pictures.

He was involved in several patent lawsuits and spent a substantial part of his income from his inventions on the legal bills. He had four marriages and 25 companies. He was defrauded by business partners and he defrauded business partners. He was indicted for mail fraud, but was later acquitted.

He was a charter member of the Institute of Radio Engineers. DeVry University was originally named DeForest Training School by its founder Dr. Herman A. DeVry, who was a friend and colleague of De Forest's.