Earle Melvin Terry (1869 - May 2, 1929) was an American physicist, known for contributions to wireless transmission systems and radio.
His fame comes from developing the WHA (AM) radio transmissions (1914), work jointly with Edward Bennett.
Terry was highly dedicated to his job, working even on Christmas Day and declining a $25,000 salary offered by RCA if he joined the private sector, saying "a man can live on $5,000" (which was his university pay).
[3]Jansky goes on to write that Terry did not envision radio broadcasting developing as it did, and had not considered commercial applications.
Randall Davidson, while researching the history of WHA for his 2007 book, 9XM Talking, found that "a breathtaking amount of material has been preserved from the station's early decades."