Remembering Art Pedersen, Founder of Sea-Bird Electronics
Art Pedersen, founder of Sea-Bird Electronics, passed away on October 8, 2021. His designs are firmly cemented into Sea-Bird’s CTDs, and he leaves behind profound impacts on how scientists make measurements in the ocean.
Dr. Norge Larson, former president of Sea-Bird Scientific (2004 to 2013) and long-time colleague of Pedersen, spoke about the early days and Art’s legacy as an engineer and president: “He was sort of an everyman and a jack of all trades. He had an electronics degree, an M.B.A. and a lot of mechanical engineering experience.” Norge recalled.
“And he ran the company with his even temper and his straightforward ‘North Dakota’ philosophy. He approached things in a plain and simple way. You didn’t make them complicated. One of Art’s mantras was: ‘We do what we know how to do, and we don’t do what we don’t know how to do.’ It kept us incremental, and from overreaching–real North Dakota.”
Pedersen established Sea-Bird Electronics as a successful facilitator and co-practitioner of oceanography. The company continues to make important contributions to the scientific community. As 2021 comes to a close, it has developed and provided over 70 different instruments to that ocean community.