Mearl W. Tilden was born in Stanwood, Iowa in 1904. He earned a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Iowa in 1929 and began working for RCA as a Student Engineer in New York later that year.

Tilden frequently changed positions while working for RCA. He began in 1938 as a Photophone Field Engineer, repairing theater sound equipment. During the war, Tilden was a Field Service Superintendent writing radar instruction manuals for the Navy, then served a year as an Electron Microscope Specialist, and finally became Manager of Technical Publications. In the 1950s, Tilden managed the quality test lab, then became Leader of Special Projects for RCA’s BMEWS Service (ballistic missile early warning system). Tilden ended the decade as the Manager of Field Support Engineering for the Government Service Department.

Tilden eventually retired from RCA and died in Moorestown, New Jersey in 1991.