Henry Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1904. He attended public schools in New York and the Ethical Culture School until 1922. He studied under Norman Bel Geddes until 1924, and then worked in stage design and industrial design. In 1928 he opened his own office.
In the 1930’s and 1940’s he designed or redesigned everything from kitchen tools and clocks to locomotives. In 1935 the Crane Company became a client and he assigned 34 design patents to them.
He was the first vice president of The Society of Industrial Designers in 1944 and became president in 1965. In 1972 he and his terminally ill wife committed suicide.