Kenneth Mees

Charles Edward Kenneth Mees FRS (26 May 1882 – 15 August 1960) was a British scientist and photographic researcher.

Early life and education Mees was born in Wellingborough, England, the son of a Wesleyan minister.

He attended the University of London. In 1906 he was awarded his D.Sc. with a dissertation on photographic theory.

Career From 1906 until 1912, Mees worked for Wratten and Wainwright, Ltd., assisting Frederick Wratten in developing the first panchromatic photographic plates, as well as light filters and safelights for the darkroom.

In 1912, Eastman Kodak Company acquired Wratten and Wainwright because they were interested in the skills Mees provided. George Eastman convinced Mees to move to Rochester, New York, United States, where Mees created the Kodak Research Laboratories, becoming its first director.

Mees helped the US military in World War I in its instruction of photography.

He died suddenly in Honolulu in 1960.

Personal life He married in 1909 Alice Crisp, and together they raised two children: Graham (1910) and Doris (1912). They were married for 45 years. Progress Medal, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, 1936 Member of the American Philosophical Society, 1937 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1941 Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, 1950 Franklin Medal, 1954 Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society Fellow of the Royal Society, 1939 The University of Rochester's C.E.K. Mees Observatory is named after him. The crater Mees on the Moon is named after him. Mees Solar Observatory on the summit of Haleakala is named after him.