A physicist and engineer, in the 1950s Alderson developed the “anthropomorphic test device” to help NASA and the U.S. Air Force test ejection seats in high-performance aircraft. But few called them “A.T.D.s”, preferring instead “crash test dummy.”
Alderson campaigned for the dummies to be more widely used, such as to help design safer automobiles. His first design made specifically for automotive testing was produced in 1968, replacing what was previously used in crash tests: cadavers, and ushered in a new era of vastly improved automotive safety. He died February 11 at home in Los Angeles from myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disorder. He was 90.