born July 12, 1854, Waterville, N.Y., U.S.
died March 14, 1932, Rochester, N.Y.
U.S. inventor and manufacturer.
Eastman in 1880 perfected a process for making dry plates for photography. In 1889 he introduced transparent film, and in 1892 he reorganized his Rochester company as the Eastman Kodak Co. The introduction of the first Kodak (a coined word that became a trademark) camera helped promote large-scale amateur photography . By 1927 Eastman Kodak had a virtual monopoly of the U.S. photographic industry, and it has remained one of the largest American companies in its field. Eastman's generous bequests to the University of Rochester were acknowledged in the naming of the Eastman School of Music.