Editing Bill Lear (section)

{{Short description|American businessman and inventor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bill Lear
| image = Bill Lear.jpg
| birth_name = William Powell Lear 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1902|6|26}}
| birth_place = [[Hannibal, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1978|5|14|1902|6|26}}
| death_place = [[Reno, Nevada]], U.S.
| known_for = Car radio, [[8-track tape]], [[Learjet]]
| awards =  {{Unbulleted list
   | [[Collier Trophy]] (1949)
   | [[Horatio Alger Award]] (1954)
   | [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] (1972)
   }}
| education = 
| other_names = William P. Lear
| occupation = Engineer, inventor
| spouse = {{Unbulleted list
   | Ethel Peterson
   | {{marriage|Madeline Murphy|October 1926}}
   | Margret Radell
   | {{marriage|[[Moya Lear|Moya Olsen]]|1941}}
   }}
| children = 7, including [[John Olsen Lear]]
}}

'''William Powell Lear''' (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding [[Learjet]], a manufacturer of [[business jet]]s. He also invented the [[battery eliminator]] for the [[B battery]], and developed the [[car radio]] and the [[8-track cartridge]], an audio tape system.<ref name="patent pending">Stim and Pressman 2007, p. 20.</ref> Throughout his career of 46 years, Lear received over 140 patents.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Brittain|first1=J.E.|title=William P. Lear and his contributions to radio and aviation.|journal=Proceedings of the IEEE|date=December 2003|volume=91|issue=12|pages=2068–2069|doi=10.1109/jproc.2003.819609}}</ref>