Otis Frank Boykin (August 29, 1920March 26, 1982) was an American inventor and engineer. His inventions include

electrical resistor A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active el ...

s used in computing, missile guidance, and

pacemakers An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eit ...

Early life and education

Otis Boykin was born on August 29, 1920, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

."Inventor of Heart Stimulator Honored at Memorial Service." ''Dallas Morning News'', March 18, 1982, p. 5D. His father, Walter B. Boykin, was a carpenter, and later became a preacher. His mother, Sarah, was a maid, who died of heart failure when Otis was a year old. This inspired him to help improve the

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart ei ...

. Boykin attended Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas, where he was the valedictorian, graduating in 1938.Julia Scott Reed, "Dallasite Stars as Inventor." ''Dallas Morning News'', January 5, 1969, p. A31. He attended

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

on a scholarship, worked as a laboratory assistant at the university's nearby aerospace laboratory, and left in 1941. Chest xray pacemaker (CardioNetworks ECGpedia)

Chest xray pacemaker (CardioNetworks ECGpedia)

Boykin then moved to Chicago, where he found work as a clerk at Electro Manufacturing Company. He was subsequently hired as a laboratory assistant for the Majestic Radio and Television Corporation; at that company, he rose to become foreman of their factory. By 1944, he was working for the P.J. Nilsen Research Labs. In 1946–1947, he studied at

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

, but dropped out after two years; some sources say it was because he could not afford his tuition, but he later stated he left for an employment opportunity, and did not have time to return to finish his degree. One of his mentors was Dr. Denton Deere, an engineer, and inventor with his own laboratory. Another mentor was Dr. Hal F. Fruth, with whom he collaborated on several experiments, including a more effective way to test automatic pilot control units in airplanes. The two men later went into business, opening an electronics research lab in the late 1940s. In the 1950s, Boykin and Fruth worked together at the Monson Manufacturing Corporation; Boykin was the company's chief engineer. In the early 1960s, Boykin was a senior project engineer at the Chicago Telephone Supply Corporation, later known as CTS Labs. It was here that he did much of his pacemaker research. But Boykin subsequently sued CTS for $5 million, asserting that his former employer had obtained a patent and tried to take credit for the device that he developed. After the suit was eventually dismissed, and his career at CTS had ended, he opened his own consulting and research company, with offices in both the US and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, France.

Legacy

Boykin patented as many as 26 devices. He is best known for inventing multiple different electronic control devices in

guided missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...

s, IBM computers, and in the

. One of his early inventions was an improved wire resistor, which had reduced

inductance Inductance is the tendency of an electrical conductor to oppose a change in the electric current flowing through it. The flow of electric current creates a magnetic field around the conductor. The field strength depends on the magnitude of th ...

and reactance, due to the physical arrangement of the wire. Other notable inventions include a variable resistor used in guided

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...

s. His most famous invention was likely a

control unit The control unit (CU) is a component of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) that directs the operation of the processor. A CU typically uses a binary decoder to convert coded instructions into timing and control signals that direct the op ...

for the

artificial cardiac pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eit ...

.Frances T. Matlock. "Boykin's Electric Device Aid in Eisenhower Crisis." ''Pittsburgh Courier'', September 14, 1968, p. 12. The device essentially uses electrical impulses to maintain a regular heartbeat. Among his other inventions is a burglar-proof cash register."Black History Month: Inventors." ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', February 11, 1999, p. A23.

Death

Boykin died in Chicago on March 26, 1982, of heart failure, at the age of 61 .

References

External links

Otis Boykin
at the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...

Otis Boykin at the
Black Inventors Online Museum
Otis Frank Boykin
honored by the

National Society of Black Physicists The National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), established in the United States in 1977, is a non-profit professional organization with the goal to promote the professional well-being of African Diaspora physicists and physics students within the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boykin, Otis 1920 births 1982 deaths Illinois Institute of Technology alumni African-American engineers 20th-century American engineers African-American inventors African-American scientists American scientists Cardiac electrophysiologists Embedded systems Fisk University alumni Implants (medicine) 20th-century American inventors 20th-century African-American people

Early life and education

Legacy

Death

See also

References

External links