James Frederick Kaiser (Dec. 10, 1929 – Feb. 13, 2020) was an American electrical engineer noted for his contributions in

signal processing Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...

. He was an

IEEE Fellow , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

and received many honors and awards, including the

IEEE Centennial Medal The IEEE Centennial Medal was a medal minted and awarded in 1984 ''to persons deserving of special recognition for extraordinary achievement'' to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (I ...

, the IEEE W.R.G. Baker Award, the

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the company operates several lab ...

Distinguished Technical Staff Award, and the

IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal The IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal is presented "for outstanding achievements in signal processing" theory, technology or commerce. The recipients of this award will receive a gold medal, together with a replica in bronze, a certifica ...

Biography

Kaiser was born in Piqua, Ohio, and earned his electrical engineering degree from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

in 1952. He then moved to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

and received his masters and doctorate degrees in 1954 and 1959, respectively. Following his doctorate, he received a three-year appointment as an assistant professor at MIT but decided to take a leave of absence to work at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

. Although the arrangement was due to only last for a year, he enjoyed the work so much that he elected to stay. While at Bell Labs, he worked on a variety of projects in

for human speech and hearing, later focusing his attention on

filter design Filter design is the process of designing a signal processing filter that satisfies a set of requirements, some of which may be conflicting. The purpose is to find a realization of the filter that meets each of the requirements to an acceptable ...

for

digital signal A digital signal is a signal that represents data as a sequence of discrete values; at any given time it can only take on, at most, one of a finite number of values. This contrasts with an analog signal, which represents continuous values; ...

s. During the Bell System breakup in 1984, Kaiser moved to

Bellcore iconectiv supplies communications providers with network planning and management services. The company’s cloud-based information as a service network and operations management and numbering solutions span trusted communications, digital identi ...

. After he retired from Bellcore, he served as a visiting professor at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Kaiser died at age 90 in February, 2020, after a brief illness. After his passing, his family contacted the HOA of the neighborhood he lived in and a memorial was agreed to be built. The project was funded in large part by Kaiser's family, with the HOA and individual doners contributing. A stone masonry company based out of Asheville, Hammerhead Stoneworks, built the patio with benches in 2023. The patio mosaic design was inspired by Kaiser's family saying his interests were: mountains, music, mathematics, and Margo (his wife). The design was a modified

Fibonacci Sequence In mathematics, the Fibonacci sequence is a Integer sequence, sequence in which each element is the sum of the two elements that precede it. Numbers that are part of the Fibonacci sequence are known as Fibonacci numbers, commonly denoted . Many w ...

that gave the impression of a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

, which are common in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. A dedication was held in memory of Kaiser and unveiling the memorial in 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, James 2020 deaths University of Cincinnati alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Scientists at Bell Labs American electrical engineers People from Piqua, Ohio IEEE Centennial Medal laureates Fellows of the IEEE 1929 births Engineers from Ohio