John Ferguson Taplin


John Ferguson Taplin was an American inventor and businessman and repeated donor to Harvard Medical School.
He was married to Virginia Baldwin Taplin, and their gifts were occasionally given in both names.

Personal life

Taplin was one of three children born in Vermont to William and Susannah Ferguson Taplin. His sister, Jeannette Taplin Allison, lived in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States, and his brother, Franklin Taplin, lived in South Hadley, Massachusetts In the mid-19th century, the Taplin family migrated from Belfast, Ireland to Ontario, Canada.
Soon after his graduation, Taplin married Virginia Baldwin. The couple had five children. At his death in 2008, they had been married for 69 years. In 2016, Virginia Taplin died at age 97 after a life of voluntary community service and active charity.

Professional life

Taplin studied engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
During his career as an engineer, Taplin invented devices for controlling cabin pressures in jet aircraft, speed controls for aircraft engines, and leak-free piston seals to reduce air pollution from vehicles.