Edwin Herbert Land was an American scientist and inventor. Edwin Land is best known as the inventor of the Polaroid camera and film, and as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. Edwin Land was born on May 7, 1909, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He attended Harvard University for a year, studying chemistry, before dropping out and moving to New York City. In New York, Land worked on scientific experiments independently. During the day, he conducted research at the New York Public Library. After hours, he used a Columbia University laboratory. The result of these activities was the development of what he called a Polaroid J sheet, which was a groundbreaking advance in polarizing light technology. Dr. Land was awarded many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science. He was on various commissions and was a trustee of the Ford Foundation from 1967 to 1975 and president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1951 to 1953. He died on March 1, 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.