Perkin-Elmer was founded
On Apr. 19, 1937, Perkin-Elmer was founded by Richard Perkin, a banker and Charles Elmer, a court reporter and co-founder of the optical design and consulting company. Perkin raised U.S. $15,000 from family and Elmer added U.S. $5,000 to launch the partnership. In 1944, Perkin-Elmer entered the analytical-instruments business, and in the early 1990s, partnered with Cetus Corp. to pioneer the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment industry.
Perkin-Elmer, which was founded by Richard Perkin and Charles Elmer, built the campus in 1951 at 761 Main Ave. after moving from a factory in the Glenbrook section of Stamford. By the 1980s, Perkin-Elmer employed 15,000 people worldwide and 6,500 workers in Connecticut, including 1,500 at the Norwalk-Wilton location, which also served as the company’s headquarters.
Perkin-Elmer Corp. purchased Applied Biosystems, a maker of biochemicals and diagnostic research instruments, in 1993 and then created two divisions: Applied Biosystems and Analytical Instruments. In 1998, Perkin-Elmer formed Celera Genomics Corp., which eventually mapped the human genome.
Analytical Instruments was bought in 1999 by EG&G Inc., which changed its name to PerkinElmer Inc., while the former Perkin-Elmer became Norwalk-based Applera Corp. the next year. Celera and Applied Biosystems split in 2008, whereupon Applied Biosystems merged with Invitrogen to become Life Technologies.
The remaining pieces of what was once Perkin-Elmer Corp. in this area are the manufacture of life sciences analytical instruments by 550 employees of Waltham, Mass.-based PerkinElmer Inc. at a plant in Shelton, and the defense manufacturing operations of Goodrich Corp.’s ISR Systems division in Danbury, where Perkin-Elmer crafted the Hubble mirror three decades ago.
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Source: Stamford Advocate
Credit: Photo: Richard Scott Perkin. Courtesy: Perkin-Elmer Applera Collection, Science History Institute.
