In 1864 he became the Professor of Natural Science at the Western University of Pennsylvania, now known as the University of Pittsburgh, where he undertook experiments to produce electric light by passing the current through a resisting filament which he claimed was "the first steady electric light generated in Pittsburgh, if not in the country". He subsequently went to Yale as a professor of physiological chemistry and toxicology, and later was a professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1879–1900, when he became emeritus professor.
In 1864, he became the Professor of Natural Science at Western University of Pennsylvania, now known as the University of Pittsburgh. There, he experimented with producing electric light by passing current through a filament that he claimed was "the first steady electric light in Pittsburgh". Afterward, he moved to Yale and then to the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught physics from 1879 to 1900 before retiring as an emeritus professor.