[4][5] Downs was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1885, attended Trinity School (New York City), graduated in electrical engineering from Cooper Union in 1904.
[3][8] He worked for New York Edison Co., Acker Process Co., and Niagara Electrochemical Co,, which was absorbed by DuPont.
[9] In 1834 he won the Schoellkopf Medal of the American Chemical Society for producing sodium directly from salt.
The society announcement said "The use of sodium has been greatly extended by the introduction of the Downs Cell.
Sodium also enters into numerous metallurgical processes and into the making of indigo, dyes, perfumes and pharmaceuticals.