Over 161,000 have been laid to rest in Forest Lawn Cemetery since it was founded in 1849. Among them lay several under-appreciated bigwigs, many of whom we would be nowhere without—and even if we were here, we’d be very hot. Alongside our 13th president, Millard Fillmore, and Red Jacket, chieftain of the Senecas, lies Willis Haviland Carrier, the father of modern air conditioning. 

Born in Angola, Carrier studied engineering at Cornell University and went on to work for the Buffalo Forge Company, where he was assigned the seemingly impossible task of finding a way to control the temperature, humidity, and air circulation of Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing & Publishing Company, a printing plant in Brooklyn. In 1906, Carrier patented his “Apparatus for Treating Air,” a spray-type air-conditioner. It was designed to humidify air with warm water or dehumidify air with cold, making it a control for both humidity and temperature. With the onset of World War I, Buffalo Forge eliminated engineering positions, resulting in the creation of the Carrier Engineering Corporation. Alongside seven other engineers (J. Irvine Lyle, Edward T. Murphy, L. Logan Lewis, Ernest T. Lyle, Frank Sanna, Alfred E. Stacey, Jr., and Edmund P. Heckel), Carrier ran Carrier Engineering until the company ran into financial trouble after the Wall Street crash of 1929. In 1930, the company merged with Brunswick-Kroeschell Company and York Heating & Ventilating Corporation to form the Carrier Corporation, with Willis Carrier as chairman of the board. In 1935, Carrier was awarded an engineering degree by Lehigh University for his efforts and advances in engineering. His famous “igloo” at the New York World Fair in 1939 offered a glimpse into the future of air-conditioning, but the technology did not popularize until after World War II. It never fell out of style. Carrier was also awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree by Alfred University and the Frank P. Brown Medal in 1942. After his death, Carrier was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, as well as the Hall of Fame at the Buffalo Science Museum. 

So while you reflect on this long hot summer, think of Willis Haviland Carrier. If you’re so inclined, pay him a visit at Forest Lawn. He rests with his three late wives at plot 76 in section 15.