Bryan, Ford R. (Ford Richardson), 1912-2004.

Ford R. (Ford Richardson) Bryan, born in Crystal, Michigan, earned a degree in Natural and Physical Science from Eastern Michigan University in 1934 and a Master of Science from the University of Michigan before joining the Ford Motor Company in 1941. A prolific writer, Bryan published dozens of technical papers on optical spectroscopy during his thirty-three years as a spectrochemical analyst for the company. After retiring from Ford in 1974, he became a volunteer at The Henry Ford, where he began to research family history (Bryan's great-great-grandfather, Samuel Ford, was brother to Henry Ford's grandfather, John Ford). Over the next twenty-three years Bryan became a highly regarded historian of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford, and the Ford family, writing numerous articles and eight Ford related books.