Born in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A., 29 January 1901. Educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, B.S. in electrical engineering 1924. Married: Ethel; children: Allen B.,Jr., and Yvonne. Began career with the Westinghouse Lamp Company; conducted TV experiments in his garage, 1920s; developed an inexpensive cathode- ray tube that would last for thousands of hours (unlike the popular German import CRT, which lasted only 25 to 30 hours), DeForest Radio Company, 1930; left to found his laboratory, 1931; incorporated DuMont Labs, 1935; sold a half-interest to Paramount Pictures Corporation to raise capital for broadcasting stations, 1938; DuMont Labs was first company to market home television receiver, 1939; granted experimental TV licenses in Passaic, New Jersey, and New York, 1942; DuMont TV Network separated from DuMont Labs, sold to the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company; Emerson Radio and Phonograph Corp. purchased DuMont's television, phonograph, and stereo producing division; remaining DuMont interests merged with the Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp., 1960; named group general manager of DuMont divisions of Fairchild, 1960; named senior technical consultant, 1961. Honorary doctorates: Rensselaer and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institutes. Recipient: Marconi Memorial Medal for Achievement, 1945; American Television Society, 1943; several trophies for accuracy in navigation and calculations in power-boat racing. Died in Montclair, New Jersey, 16 November 1965.
(Courtesy of the Museum of Broadcast Communications)
