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Last Edited:
12-Sep-2004

Hermon Hosmer Scott
1909 - 1975

Hermon Hosmer Scott was born, March 28, 1909, in Somerville, Massachusetts. He received B.S.(1930) and M.S. (1931) degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Scott later earned his doctorate from Lowell Technological Institute. In the early 1960's, Mr. Scott served as a special Lecturer at the Tuck School of Business Administration, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. 

Mr. Scott invented the RC Oscillator, the selectively tuned RC circuit, various RC filters and the modern sweep circuit. He is perhaps best known for inventing the Dynaural Noise Suppressor, and held more than 100 patents (U.S. and foreign) for original research in the field of electronics.

On January 6, 2000, at 2000 International CES in Las Vegas, The Consumer Electronics Association, inducted the first fifty pioneers that made a "significant contribution to the world," and among them was Hermon Hosmer Scott. Scott  was honored along with other significant luminaries like: Armstrong, Edison, Farnsworth, Fisher, Harman, Kloss, Lansing, Marantz, and Sarnoff; to mention but a few. Please view the complete site of the charter inductees to the Consumer Electronic Hall of Fame, for more information.

Early in his career, Mr. Scott worked on sound motion pictures and high-quality broadcast systems from 1929 to 1931 at Bell Telephone Laboratories, in New York, NY.

Mr. Scott worked for the General Radio Company, in Cambridge, MA from 1931 to 1946, serving first as Sales Engineer/Development Engineer and later as Executive Engineer in charge of Audio, Acoustic, Broadcast and related developments. 

The Technology Instrument Corporation, of Waltham, MA was founded by Mr. Scott, in 1946. I.T.C.'s first product was the Type 910-A; a 13-tube, 19-inch, rack-mounted, Dynamic Noise Suppressor marketed to commercial broadcasters and permitted stations to greatly reduce their dependence on live performances. With Scott's new technology, stations were now able to air much more recorded content using older 78 rpm phonographic recordings. I.T.C was also successful in sub-licensing the patented DNS technology to other manufacturers including Electric and Musical Industries, Ltd., (a.k.a. EMI -- of Beatles & Parlaphone fame) and ironically, to E.H. Scott Radio, of Chicago, IL (note: H.H. and E.H. were not related), and also to Avery Fisher's Fisher Radio Corporation, of New York, NY.

On the initial success of I.T.C., H.H. Scott, Inc., was formed in 1947, humbly situated in a rustic old shoe factory located in Cambridge, MA. The new company expanded to build the first integrated, high fidelity, phono amplifier (210-A) incorporating a simplified (3-tube) DNS intended for the emerging post-war consumer market, while continuing to offer commercial "laboratory-grade" instruments.

A decade and several successful products later (in late 1957); the company built and moved into a new state-of-the-art manufacturing and research facility, at Powder Mill Road, in Maynard, MA. H.H. Scott, the name by which he and his firm were so widely known became one of the top two respected names in consumer high fidelity (and later stereo), the other also bearing its founder's name, Fisher Radio.

The company remained independent until 1973, when it was acquired by Electro Audio Dynamics of Europe. US operations were later relocated to Woburn, MA, offices. In 1985, the famous hi-fi brand was purchased and today operates as a division of Emerson Electronics.

Hermon Hosmer Scott's technological leadership was recognized by election to Fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Acoustical Society of America, and Audio Engineering Society, where he served as president in 1962, as well as  a member of the AES Board of Governors.  Scott was one of the first to be presented the John H. Potts Memorial Award by the Audio Engineering Society "for outstanding achievements in the field of audio engineering."  

Active in civic affairs, Mr. Scott was a trustee of the Boston Opera and the Boston Ballet. Mr. Scott received numerous awards and accolades for his accomplishments including the Distinguished Service Award from President Kennedy's Committee on the Employment of the Physically Handicapped.

Hermon Hosmer Scott, died April 13,1975, in Lincoln, Massachusetts, after a long illness at the age of 66.