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'''Theodor D. Sterling, PhD''' (sometimes known as 'Ted' or 'TD') was a professor of statistics and computing who was a life-long servant to the tobacco industry. [Note his name is often misspelled with a final 'e']

'''Ted Sterling''', was an assiduous tobacco industry supporter who worked extensively for the industry while holding down top academic positions (computer science) at three major North American universities -- the University of Washington (St Louis), University of Cincinnatti, and then multiple professorships at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.  His consulting businesses flourished in the early days because he had access to mainframe computers at a time when computing power was scarce and costly.  

He turned this computer access into a private side-line business via his consulting firm [[Theodor D. Sterling & Associates]] (TDSA or [[TDS Ltd]] or TDA).  He was willing to do any sort of research (not just computing or statistics), so the tobacco industry became a major client, and his services to the cigarette companies grew exponentially. TDS Ltd. eventually entered the occupational hygiene and consulting businesses, and it became large enough to support a couple of assistants [[Christopher W Collett]] was the main one) and his eldest son [[Elia M Sterling]], who training in architecture and specialised in air-conditioning installation and inspection. 
<table style="width=100%" bgcolor="eeeedd" border="1" rules=all cellpadding=5 align=right>
<tr bgcolor="cccccc"><th>This is a split entry</th></tr>
<tr><td>See also [[Sterling Family (Doc Index)]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eldest son &nbsp; &nbsp;  [[Elia M. Sterling]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Youngest son: [[David A Sterling]]</td></tr></table> 
Elia later took over as manager and integrated the company into a conglomerate tobacco disinformation business until the legitimate and corrupt activities were almost indistinguishable. TDS Ltd. also servicing the industry by provision experts willing to promote the pro-smoking position at Congressional inquiries, law cases, conferences, and the like, and Elia became a key member of ASHRAE (American  Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Airconditioning Engineers) which set air-conditioning standards.

His younger son [[David A Sterling]] became an Adjunct Professor and did various research projects for tobacco. He ran a number of studies with [[Demetrios J Moschandreas]] at  IITRI (Illinois Institute of Technology, Research Institute) a Chicago research establishment, and also with groups from Simon Frazer and the Old Dominion University, Norfolk Virginia, where he became Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Program, in the College of Health Sciences, circa 1990.  He received money from the CIAR through their secret 'Special Account #4'.

Theodor Sterling himself was a tobacco industry consultant, mainly in statistics and applied mathematics .  He is listed as a consulting scientist for the tobacco industry in 1988 memo [[Philip Morris]] 2023034933/4946 from [[Andrew Whist]] to R. Murray. He became obscenely wealthy from his work for the tobacco industry (and possible also for other industries), and he eventually owned a high-rise office building in Vancouver. One reference talks about a dinner held in his luxury top-floor penthouse apartment with view over the bay and drinks served by a full-time butler. Sterling always presented the industry's point of view and his companies were secret [[Council for Tobacco Research]] Special Project recipients to the tune of about $1 million a year in the early 1990s.

The company ties of '''Theodor D. Sterling & Associates''' to the tobacco industry go as far back as 1968/69 and are still operating. The organization claims to be:<blockquote><I> "a multi-disciplinary consulting firm providing indoor air quality, environmental and a variety of occupational hygiene & safety consulting services to clients in Canada, the United States and South America." The organization has been known to generate studies and attack evidence on the dangers of second-hand smoke. </I></blockquote>