John Francis Mitchell

Patents

U.S. Patent 2,833,994
July 2, 1954, for High Frequency Long-Line Variably End-Loaded with Clarence P. Pipes.
U.S.Patent 2,912,573
November 10, 1959, for Receiver having frequency and amplitude modulation detecting.
U.S. Patent 3,087,117
April 23, 1963, for Portable Transmitter Apparatus with Selective.
U.S. Patent 2,975,274
March 14, 1961, for Frequency Modulation Radio Receiver.
U.S. Patent 3,126,514
October 13, 1961, for Noise Reducing system with Jack Germain. (Germain retired as director of quality assurance.)"Jack Germain & Art Sundry Key Movers in Creation of Motorola's Six Sigma Culture"
/ref>
U.S. Patent 3,906,166
September 16, 1975, for a Radio Telephone System, the cell phone.
U.S. Patent 5,650,776
July 22, 1997, for a Communications Receiver with Thomas F. Holmes

Family and early years

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Catholic Irish immigrants,Stephen Miller
"John Francis Mitchell Retirement"
''The Wall Street Journal'', June 20–21, 2009 William Mitchell of Sligo and Bridget Keane, of Listowel. He was married to Margaret and had three children.

Radio telephony and the cell phone

Mitchell became Motorola's chief engineer for its mobile communication products in 1960. Prior to the development of the cell phone, Mitchell and his team of engineers produced and marketed the first transistorized pagerHoward Wolinksky
"Cell Phones, From Brick to Slick"
''Chicago Sun-Times'', pages 57-61, April 3, 2003 and obtained a patent for the concept of portable cell telephony, including small antennae used to help free mobile phone units from car trunks where they were typically installed.

Mitchell, Motorola's chief of portable communication products and Martin Cooper's boss in 1973, played a key role in advancing the development of handheld mobile telephone equipment. Mitchell successfully pushed Motorola to develop wireless communication products that would be small enough to use anywhere and participated in the design of the cellular phone.

Other initiatives

In 1983, Mitchell was appointed to U.S. President Ronald Reagan's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. "John Francis Mitchell Obituary"
''Chicago Tribune'', June 20–21, 2009 He was a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and was a chairman of the Electronic Industries Alliance. He was a recognized expert on world trade,Biography of John F. Mitchell
Iowa Wesleyan College serving as director of the National Association of Manufacturers, and an expert on federal fiscal policy. Mitchell was a director of Bell & Howell Company, a trustee of the Engineering Advisory Council, Marquette University, and an active participant in the Easter Seals (US) Campaign and a member of the Presidents Council of the American Lung Association. Mitchell was a trustee at Illinois Institute of Technology, the Dublin City University and the University of Limerick Foundation. He was one of the architects, which also included Chuck Feeney, of the huge expansion of the University of Limerick during the 1990s and 2000s through his work on the University of Limerick foundation. As a philanthropist and member of IIT's Philip Danforth Armour Society, Mitchell established endowed scholarship funds for the Camras Program, the Leadership Academy and electrical engineering students. To date, the John F. Mitchell scholarship funds have supported more than 70 students at the university.

Awards

Mitchell was awarded honorary degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology in humane letters and science, 1995; an honorary doctorate of business administration from Iowa Wesleyan College, on May 18, 1985, and from Dublin City University (Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) on October 25, 1996. He was a recipient of the 2003 Chicago Innovation Award.John Francis Mitchell, Ton Kobrinetz, Marty Cooper
''Chicago Sun-Times''-Innovation Awards He received from the IIT Alumni Association its award for Professional Achievement in 1985, Alumni Medal in 1994 and Lifetime Achievement Award (posthumous) 2010.Commencement Awards & Notes
IIT], 1995

Patents

U.S. Patent 2,833,994
July 2, 1954 for High Frequency Long-Line Variably End-Loaded with Clarence P. Pipes.
U.S.Patent 2,912,573
November 10, 1959 for Receiver having frequency and amplitude modulation detecting.
U.S. Patent 3,087,117
April 23, 1963. for Portable Transmitter Apparatus with Selective.
U.S. Patent 2,975,274
March 14, 1961. for Frequency Modulation Radio Receiver.
U.S. Patent 3,126,514
October 13, 1961, for Noise Reducing system with Jack Germain. (Germain retired as director of quality assurance.)"Jack Germain & Art Sundry Key Movers in Creation of Motorola's Six Sigma Culture"
/ref>
U.S. Patent 3,906,166
September 16, 1975. for a Radio Telephone System, the cell phone.
U.S. Patent 5,650,776
July 22, 1997. for a Communications Receiver with Thomas F. Holmes

See also

* History of mobile phones

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, John Francis
1928 births
2009 deaths
Businesspeople from Chicago
American electrical engineers
Motorola employees
American people of Irish descent
American chief operating officers
Engineers from Illinois
Illinois Institute of Technology alumni
20th-century American engineers
20th-century American businesspeople