Entrepreneur. He was a pioneer automobile designer and manufacturer who invented one of the few truly Canadian cars. In 1905, as general manager of the Canadian Cycle and Motor Company (CCM), Russell introduced a model A with a flat, two-cylinder gasoline engine. The car had such advanced features as a shaft drive, a sliding-gear transmission, and a column-mounted shift lever. Russell marketed the vehicle by calling it "The Thoroughly Canadian Car," boasting that the car was made with Canadian material, Canadian labor, and Canadian capital. He also orchestrated several outrageous publicity stunts, which included a car race on a frozen lake with an ice yacht. Naturally, Russell's car won. By 1913, emerging service problems with the car were generating bad press. CCM attempted to correct the problem, but the damage was done. Production on the car stopped in 1916. Eventually, Russell would leave CCM, becoming the president and director of Massey Harris for several years. Born the eldest of the six children of a farmer, he excelled in school and received a scholarship to attend the University of Toronto. He entered University College in 1895 and graduated in 1899 at the top of his class with a BA degree in political science. Russell's academic success secured him a postgraduate scholarship that provided a one-year appointment as a lecturer in the Department of Political Science before entering a business career. In 1930, he was awarded an honorary LLD in recognition of his many contributions to University College, such as serving as governor for 28 years and being instrumental in building a men's residence for the college. Starting in 1910, he had a 650-acre farm in Downsview, Brae Lodge, where he began to breed prize shorthorn cattle as his father did. He bred Clydesdale horses. He was a successful exhibitor at the Canadian National Exhibition, the Provincial Winter Fair, the Ottawa Winter Fair, and the International Live Stock Exposition in Chicago. During World War I, he secured armored cars, trucks, wagons, and ambulances necessary for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. By 1917 company operations had expanded to four factories employing almost 6,000 laborers. After the war, his company made the transition to a peacetime industry as the Russell Gear and Machine Company. He died of pneumonia and heart disease after being a very successful businessman. His 1947 biography, "Made Up to a Standard: Thomas Alexander Russell," was published by Jaroslav Petryshyn.