Reuben Trane Posthumously Honored as 2026 National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee

Mechanical engineer Reuben Trane (Sept. 13, 1886-Sept. 5, 1954) is among 15 innovation pioneers honored in the 2026 class of National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees, in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Trane began making advancements to heating and cooling technologies early in the 20th century, providing reliable comfort for homes and commercial buildings around the world. With his innovations and business leadership, The Trane Co. became an industry giant. More than a century later, the brand remains a leader.

Trane was born in 1886 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His father, James Trane, was an immigrant from Norway. After Trane graduated from high school, he spent a year working as a plumber’s helper at the plumbing company his father had established.

In 1906, Trane entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study engineering. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1910. After earning his degree, Trane once again worked for his father’s plumbing and heating business. Then, on April 5, 1913, he joined his father and his sister Stella Trane in establishing The Trane Co. to manufacture steam heating system components, including the steam valves, traps and pumps used in the low-pressure steam vapor heating system that James Trane had originally designed.

Having sold and installed steam heating accessories for cast iron radiators, Trane recognized their many drawbacks. Laboring in the corner of their new factory in the 1920s, he started working on a new heat exchanger to replace the bulky cast iron radiator. He began experimenting with copper to take advantage of its superior heat transfer and lighter weight. In 1926, The Trane Co. announced the Heat Cabinet, featuring the “tube-and-fin” convector-radiator coil. Its extended-surface heat transfer coil provided a large surface area of fins coupled to tubes through which heating fluid would flow.

The tagline “It’s Hard To Stop A Trane” was introduced in 1992 to reinforce the brand’s reliability and durability, and it remains widely used. In 2008, the company was acquired by Ingersoll Rand Inc. for more than $10 billion. In 2020, following the spin-off of Ingersoll Rand’s Industrial segment, the remaining climate-focused company launched as Trane Technologies. Read his story here.