Thomas Commerford Martin

{{Short description|British-American electrical engineer (1856–1924)}}

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| name = Thomas Commerford Martin

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| image = Pacific Gas and Electric magazine (1914) (14782177042).jpg

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| caption = A photograph of Thomas Commerford Martin published in Pacific Gas and Electric Magazine (1914)

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| birth_date = {{birth date|1856|7|22}}

| birth_place = London

| death_date = {{death date and age|1924|5|17|1856|7|22}}

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| module = {{ infobox engineering career

| discipline = Electrical engineering

| institutions = American Institute of Electrical Engineers

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| employer = National Electric Light Association

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Thomas Commerford Martin (July 22, 1856{{cite web |title=Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861 |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8767/images/KENRG9_470_471-0247 |website=The National Archives Class: RG 9; Piece: 470; Folio: 122; Page: 4; GSU roll: 542644 |access-date=31 December 2021 |date=1861}} – May 17, 1924) was a British-American electrical engineer and editor.

Martin was born in Limehouse, England. His father worked with Lord Kelvin and other pioneers of submarine telegraph cables, and Martin worked on the cable-laying ship SS Great Eastern.

Educated as a theological student, Martin travelled to the United States in 1877.

He was associated with Thomas A. Edison in his work in 1877–1879 and thereafter engaged in editorial work. From 1883 to 1909 he served as editor of the Electrical World, after 1909 was executive secretary of the National Electric Light Association, and in 1900–1911 was a special agent of the United States Census Office.

Martin lectured at the Royal Institution of Engineers, London, the Paris Société Internationale des Electriciens, the University of Nebraska, and Columbia University.

He was a founding member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and served as president in 1887–1888.{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/T._Commerford_Martin |title=T. Commerford Martin |author= |date= |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |accessdate=8 August 2011}}{{Cite web|url=http://ethw.org/T._Commerford_Martin|title=T. Commerford Martin - Engineering and Technology History Wiki|website=ethw.org|access-date=2016-03-18}}

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