John Sullivan Mayo (born February 26, 1930) is an American engineer, AT&T executive and seventh president of Bell Labs, known for contributions to the computer and telecommunications industry. In 1979, Mayo was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions and leadership in the realization of digital facilities for the telecommunications network.

Biography

Born in Greenville, North Carolina, he earned B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University. Following this, Mayo joined Bell Labs, now Nokia Bell Labs, (1955) where he first worked on early computers as the TRADIC and Leprechaun, the Telstar satellite, ocean sonar systems and various switching systems. He was elected vice president at Bell Labs (1975) and eventually became the seventh president (1991) until his retirement (1995). He is credited with globalizing Bell Labs and forging closer ties between its research and development and business units.

Awards