Frank B. Jewett

He graduated from the Throop Institute of Technology (later the California Institute of Technology) in 1898, and received the doctoral degree in physics in 1902 from the University of Chicago (IL). Jewett was president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers from 1922 to 1923.

The Bell Telephone Laboratories were established in 1925 with Jewett as president; he stayed until 1940. He also was chairman of the Board of Directors of Bell Laboratories from 1940 to 1944.

In 1928, the AIEE awarded him the Edison Medal "For his contributions to the art of electric communication." Jewett was president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1939 to 1947. In 1950, he was awarded the IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute for recognition of his role in technology leadership. He also served on the National Defense Research Committee.

Historian Leonard S. Reich (1985) argues that in the early 1900s, AT&T and other companies established research labs as a defensive measure against competitors threatening their core businesses. Despite AT&T's very large investment in its telephone system, it faced fierce competition from smaller regional firms. To maintain dominance, AT&T concentrated on creating a nationwide telephone system that provided good technology and the widest possible long-distance service. A key invention that would leave the competition far behind, would be a repeater device to allow coast-to-coast telephone transmission. This research became even more pressing when the engineers realized that the device would also be pivotal for radio development, which had the potential to render wired communication obsolete. The vacuum tube was the critical device. AT&T did not invent it but did purchase the patent and then significantly improved it. AT&T continued research to reinforce its existing telephone system. The research philosophy, according to Jewett, the research director, centered around science's usefulness in the systematic advancement of electrical communication. The vacuum tube thus played a critical role in the company's success in both telephone and radio industries.[1]

• U.S. Patent 1,559,325, Means for analyzing and synthesizing electric waves, 1925.

• IEEE History Biography of Frank B Jewett
• J. Olin, Howe (April 6, 1919). "Wonders of Wireless Telephony - Past and to Come". New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924. pp. VII 3. Retrieved October 14, 2010.

• Brittain, James E. "Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Frank B. Jewett." Proceedings of the IEEE 95.2 (2007): 453–455. online
• Osgood, Farley, et al. "Frank B. Jewett." Journal AIEE (June 1922) pp. 125–125 online
• Reich, Leonard S. "Industrial Research and the Pursuit of Corporate Security: The Early Years of Bell Labs" Business History Review 54#4 (1980) pp. 504–529.
• Reich. Leonard S. The Making of American Industrial Research. (Cambridge UP, 1985).

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• National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir