George Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak

Eastman Kodak

Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....

 Company and invented roll film

Roll film

Rollfilm or roll film is any type of spool-wound photographic film protected from white light exposure by a paper backing, as opposed to film which is protected from exposure and wound forward in a cartridge. Confusingly, roll film was originally often referred to as "cartridge" film because of its...

, helping to bring photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

 to the mainstream. Roll film was also the basis for the invention of motion picture film

Film stock

Film stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...

 in 1888 by the world's first filmmakers Eadward Muybridge and Louis Le Prince

Louis Le Prince

Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince was an inventor who is considered by many film historians as the true father of motion pictures, who shot the first moving pictures on paper film using a single lens camera....

, and a few years later by his followers Léon Bouly

Léon Bouly

Léon Guillaume Bouly was a French inventor who created the word cinematograph.-Cinematograph:After devising chronophotography devices, Bouly applied a patent on a reversible device of photography and optics for the analysis and synthesis of motions, calling it the Cynématographe Léon Bouly on...

, Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

, the Lumière Brothers and Georges Méliès

Georges Méliès

Georges Méliès , full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He was very innovative in the use of special effects...

.

He was a major philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

, establishing the Eastman School of Music

Eastman School of Music

The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...

, and schools of dentistry and medicine at the University of Rochester

University of Rochester

The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...

; contributing to the construction of MIT's second campus on the Charles River; and donating to Tuskegee and Hampton

Hampton

-In Australia:*Hampton, Queensland*Hampton, Victoria*Hampton East, Victoria*Hampton Island*Hampton Park, Victoria-In Canada:*Hampton, New Brunswick*Hampton, Nova Scotia*Hampton, Ontario*Hampton, Prince Edward Island-In the United Kingdom:...

 universities.