Dr. James Edward Maceo West Archives

Dr. James Edward Maceo West was born in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia on February 10, 1931, to Samuel Edward and Matilda West. He began working at the age of 12 with his cousin to add electrical wiring into rural Virginian homes. Initially, he attended Hampton University in Virginia with interest in medical school. During that time he was drafted and served in the military. His experience led to his becoming a pacifist, transferring to Temple University in Philadelphia, where he received his B.S. in Physics.

Mr. West then went on to work full-time for Bell Laboratories, leading to his beginning his Ph.D. studies, which he later received an honorary doctorate in support of his efforts. As a second-year graduate student, West alongside his colleague created a foil electret microphone, which did not need a battery. This microphone later replaced the carbon microphone and revolutionized communications technology. In addition to his human hearing research and inventions in hearing aids and space technology, West co-founded the Association of Black Laboratories Employees (ABLE) at Bell Labs. Throughout his career he advocated for greater diversity in science and technology fields, even creating the Corporate Research Fellowship Program (CRFP), Summer Research Program, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Ingenuity

Project.

Although West retired from his distinguished career with Lucent Technologies as a Bell Laboratories Fellow, he has continued to conduct research. He has joined the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, where he serves a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The technological inventions and contributions that West has made in the field have caused him recognition. He was the fourth African American selected to join the National Inventors Hall of Fame, due to his invention of the electret microphone, he received the U.S. National Medal of Technology and holds 47 U.S. patents, over 200 foreign patents for the design of microphones and techniques for creating polymer foil-electrets, and is the author of over 100 academic papers. Dr. West has received a number of other honors and awards including him being a Black STEAMer.