Oliver Ellsworth Buckley (August 8, 1887 – December 14, 1959) was an American electrical engineer known for his contributions to the field of submarine telephony.
Oliver E. Buckley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee | |
| In office April 20, 1951 – June 15, 1952 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Lee Alvin DuBridge |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 8, 1887 Sloan, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | December 14, 1959 (aged 72) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Education | Grinnell College (BS) Cornell University (MS, PhD) |
| Awards | IEEE Edison Medal (1954) |
Biography
editBuckley was an undergraduate at Grinnell College until 1909.[1] He joined the Bell System after completing his PhD in physics at Cornell University in 1914. In 1915, Buckley, along with AT&T coworkers H. D. Arnold and Gustav Elmen, developed a method of substantially improving the transmission performance of submarine communications cable so that transmission speed of over 2000 letters per minute were achieved.[2] They constructed the cable by wrapping the copper conductors with annealed permalloy tape, a material that Elmen had discovered, thus inductively loading the cable.
Buckley was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1937,[3] the American Philosophical Society in 1942,[4] and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1949.[5]
Buckley was the president of Bell Labs from 1940 to 1951, and chairman of the board from 1951 until his retirement in 1952.[6]
Buckley was a member of the General Advisory Committee of the United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1948 to 1954.[7] In that role, Buckley opposed the 1950 decision to proceed with the development of the hydrogen bomb, but by 1952 had changed his view and supported the program.[8]
Buckley received the IEEE Edison Medal for "contributions to the science and art which have made possible a transatlantic telephone cable; for wise leadership of a great industrial laboratory; for outstanding services to the government of his country". The Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize is named in his honor.
References
edit- ^ "Notable Alumni | Grinnell College". www.grinnell.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
- ^ A. A. Hurdeman, The Worldwide History of Telecommunications, Wiley Interscience (2003), p.314
- ^ "Oliver Buckley". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
- ^ "Oliver Ellsworth Buckley". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
- ^ Buckley biography by Bell Labs
- ^ "Oliver Buckley: Biography". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 11 February 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ Bernstein, Barton J. (Fall 1987). "Crossing the Rubicon: A Missed Opportunity to Stop the H-Bomb?". International Security. 14 (2): 147–148.
External links
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