JOHN FRANCIS MITCHELL BIOGRAPHY

Tuesday 07 August 2012 at 2:32 pm.

JFM Apercu

editorial Note: for researchers.  The author of this article has successfully submitted several hundred clips and articles to Wikipedia, and can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Josephbrophy.  The article following this apercu was submitted to Wikipedia and rejected for several reasons:  (1) the article was too long and had too much detail. (2) the article was a celebration of the life of John F. Mitchell rather than a dispassionate commentary. (3) the article did not separate clearly Mitchell vs. Motorola.  Unfortunately, the author of this article could not convince the editor of Wikipedia that Mitchell was Motorola.

The shortened version of this article now appears in wikipedia under "john francis mitchell" and under "six sigma"

John F. Mitchell ranks among the top electrical engineering executives in American history, and among the great pioneers in telephony. [pioneers in telephony - 15 GIANTS], [Who invented the Cell Phone?]

Mitchell was a quiet, frugal but generous man, who was dedicated to wife and family, his three brothers, Bill, Jay and Ed, and friends and associates; and to aspiring engineers, and to the Irish Culture and Performing Arts.  Mitchell avoided accolades; always giving credit for his accomplishments to associates.  He received numerous business, academic and civic awards and was sought by many such organizations to join their boards. Mitchell’s awards lie in several piles in corners of his private study.

Mitchell, like all great achievers had numerous talents from athleticism to Irish singing, penny whistling and storytelling; to super intellectual curiosity, creativity and world class genius; and also to high energy corporate executive leadership - "getting the job done with zero defects" or “doing it the engineering way with Mitchell testing” as Mitchell would always say; and upon which Motorola built its Six-Sigma culture, leading to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the US Congress in 1988.

After IIT and a three year stint as a Communications Officer in the US Navy, Mitchell joined Motorola a few years after Bob Galvin, son of the Paul Galvin, a founder of Motorola along with brother, Joseph. Bob Galvin known to be bright, hardworking and decisive.  He forgoed college and begain working at fledgling Motorola at 18 years of age.  Both Bob Galvin and Mitchell rose quickly through the ranks on merit to CEO and COO respectively.

In his early years at Motorola, Mitchell quickly extended Motorola’s automobile-based radio technology and Walkie Talkie technology to portable wireless devices, inventing the transistorized wireless pager in 1960. After his appointment as Chief Engineer, Communications, Mitchell continued pursuing his idea for a ubiquitous wireless cellphone with his protégé, the gifted Martin Cooper whom Mitchell mentored for 30 years.  Cooper, also a graduate of IIT, joined Motorola shortly after Mitchell and they sat at adjacent desks. “Together they invented the wireless cell phone” which forever changed the way people communicate around the world. Mitchell boasted that his creation would be useful to a “widely diverse of group of people-businessmen, journalists, doctors, and housewives, virtually anyone.”

Bob Galvin had an ally in John F. Mitchell in his pursuit of quality or vice versa. As Chief Engineer, Mitchell was relentless in his pursuit of quality, and was known to “rip pagers from trouser belts to test whether the belt clip would secure.”  This practice led to the introductions of “Mitchell Tests” as an integral part of the manufacturing and measurements processes. In turn, Mitchell’s oversight and encouragement changed the entire engineering culture at Motorola to achieve Six-Sigma quality outcomes in all manufacturing endeavors; and the development of the Motorola Six-Sigma Institute, or Motorola University to enable all corporations in the USA to compete and exceed the highest standards practiced in Japan’s near zero-defect manufacturing processes.

Mitchell was also known to delegate from time to time his executive responsibilities to his captains, freeing himself to join Cooper and Jim Mikulski in the research laboratory. Their cellophony initiatives placed them directly in the path of the AT&T juggernaut; a race Motorola won twice, first in 1973 when Mitchell and his team (Martin Cooper, Richard W. Dronsurth, Albert J. Leitich, Charles N. Lynk,  James J. Mikulski, John F. Mitchell, Roy A. Richardson, and John H. Sangster) were awarded a patent in NYC (see picture); and second in 1983 when the “Boot” – the first truly portable cell phone was introduced to the public.   


Motorola Vice President John F. Mitchell shows off the DynaTAC portable radio telephone in
New York City in 1973.

With the great successes of the portable cell phone, CEO Bob Galvin in 1990 announced and launched the Iridium Project, quickly dubbed the "8th Wonder of the World" – worldwide global communications satellite system for iridium cell phones. It was a bold move by Galvin to leverage Motorola’s magnificent cellophony and engineering technology to place Motorola in the forefront as the pre-eminent provider of worldwide cellophony communications services. With hindsight, the bold move seemed as if Galvin had a premonition of ubiquitous worldwide dominance of the cell phone in the early 21st century.

Notwithstanding Galvin, John F. Mitchell certainly had that vision when he announced on August 2 1990 that:  “Iridium brings personal communications to the world – it represents the potential for any person on the planet to communicate with any other." "…. For this reason, Iridium marks the next major milestone in global communications.”    Of course, like Six-Sigma, It was up to John Mitchell to deliver the product;  to travel the globe for nearly two years soliciting $7 Billion in financial and marketing support for the monumental engineering and marketing project which would solve technical problems that befuddled NASA.  Iridium immediately became the darling of Wall Street. In addition, the Motorola (“can do”) world class engineering organization built by Mitchell had to design and implement the Iridium system.  77 satellites were launched, hence the name Iridium.   During 377 days, 1998-99, 72 Iridium satellites, each weighing 1412 pounds, in 15 launches were flawlessly put into orbit, circling the earth in 100 minutes, creating network coverage to all points on earth via 18 ground relay gateways.

The implementation of Iridium was remarkably flawless due to the zero-defect, six-sigma culture that permeated the world class engineering organization built by John F. Mitchell, who still simply would not take personal credit for any of his achievements.  

When marketing plans went awry, Mitchell was first to step into the breach, accepting ownership and navigating a corrective course which included his personal efforts to raise another $2 billion to support the tepid marketing efforts from Iridium partners.   Of course and unfortunately, Iridium did fail for two reasons:  (1) the success of the Motorola cell phone itself, with greater than expected volume of sales, and greater than expected productivity improvements in manufacturing costs, eroded market share from the Iridium potential market base; and (2) major owner-partners of Iridium like China and India failed to give Iridium the marketing priority it promised and deserved.  Wall Street dubbed Iridium as the “worst business failure ever,” a claim that was premature and never substantiated.  More than 100 books and 1000s of articles have been written and published about Iridium and many writers claimed profitability and victory for John F. Mitchell and Motorola without rebuttals.

The happy endings are: (1) Iridium emerged from bankruptcy and is profitable as of 2012; filling a marketing void for security applications, including high risk situations for the military and CIA; (2) Iridium was a financial success for Motorola, although on a smaller scale than envisioned by Galvin and Mitchell; (3) Google paid more than $12 billion for old Motorola (and Mitchell) engineering patents; (4) amazingly, in an age of obsolescence, Mitchell’s 20 year old engineering is still working in the 77 satellites in 6 orbital planes circling the globe, and “helping to save lives” per the WSJ (SEE LINK)

John F. Mitchell delayed his retirement from Motorola until all was well in 2000 but continued to pursue his philanthropy.  Mitchell was one of the architects, which included the renowned Chuck Feeney, (Duty Free Imports, and founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, per perhaps the largest philanthropic foundation) of the huge expansion of the University of Limerick during the 1990s and 2000s through their work on the University of Limerick Foundation.

John F. Mitchell died peacefully June 9, 2009 at the age of 81 among his close family and brothers.  “During his 45-yerar career, Mitchell shaped the creation of nearly all of the wireless communications industries in the latter half of the 20th century.”  

This bio-apercu continues below with supporting detail and references.  Also see the section below titled "External Links" for a long list of articles and references to John F. Mitchell.

John Francis Mitchell (born January 1, 1928 in Chicago, IL), son of Irish immigrants,[3][4][6] William Mitchell, Cloghboley, Maugherow, Sligo and Bridget Keane, Listowel, Kerry, Ireland.[7]

He was an American electronics engineer and President & COO, Motorola, 1980-1995, retiring in 1998 as Vice Chairman.[4] Mitchell led the pioneering development and implementation of the Motorola’s mobile phone technology producing the first portable transistorized pager and cell phone; was the driving force behind building quality into engineering,[5][6] and the establishment of the Motorola University and Six Sigma Institute;[7] and launched the global Iridium Satellite Constellation. "During his 45-year career, Mitchell shaped the creation of nearly all of the wireless communications industries in the latter half of the 20th century." [1][2][4][8][9]

Mitchell was known as a hands-on[10], self-effacing charismatic manager and entertainer with a lilting Irish tenor voice,[11][12][13] and perhaps "the last of the real rough-and-tumble managers."[14] He was a much-admired boss[6] whose well-crafted memos were treasured by employees.[14] Mitchell maintained a low "take credit" profile, refusing to take credit for any of the great achievements under his leadership.  "People meant more to him than any piece of technology."[14] Mitchell had a reputation of being "frugal"[6] but "it was always about the team, not him or his perks."[10][6] One poet wrote: "Ó!John Francis Mitchell, Aye! t'prodigious, pioneering, pace-setting, paternal, patron." [15]

Contents

Early life

John F. Mitchell grew up in Chicago, IL in a rough and tumble milieu,[9] the second of four sons[16] of Irish immigrants. His father, William, the near youngest of ten children, [17] retired as a patrolman for the Chicago Police Department (CPD)[4] with 40 years’ service with citations for valor; his three brothers: William, Chairman & CEO, Lake Shore National Bank; James, physician and computer scientist; and Edward, an educator and coach [18]; “the brothers I never had,” lamented Norm Halvorsen,[19] a member of the Chicago Black Hawk Park Water Polo Team [1]along with the four Mitchell brothers [16] who all had Olympic aspirations until their bid was interrupted by World War II. Mitchell was a life guard[1] at Chicago's Oak Street Beach while attending the former De Paul Academy, Lincoln Park. [20] A gifted child, his interest in technology was kindled by the “Erector Set he had received as a child.”[9] Later as a teenager he automated the local A&P Bakery.[19] He received his bachelors degree in electrical engineering (BEE) from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 1950, receiving the highest honors from the Institute.[8] [6][21] He then fulfilled his Reserve Officers' Training Corps commitment in the United States Navy as a communication officer for three years before joining Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company as a development engineer for a short time before joining Motorola.[1][8][2][9].

Motorola career

Original Motorola "beeper" pager, used in NYC, late 1970s.

John F. Mitchell joined Motorola in 1953 as a product development engineer in the company's Communications Division. In 1960, he was named chief engineer of communications products.[4] He was elected a Motorola vice president in January 1968, and was named general manager of the Communications Division in 1972. Mitchell was elected senior vice president and named to the Motorola Board of Directors in May 1974. In February 1975, he was elected executive vice president and assistant chief operating officer of Motorola, Inc.[22] He was promoted to president & chief operating office of Motorola in January 1980. In 1988, he became vice chairman and an officer of the board. In 1995, Mitchell retired from Motorola, but remained on the Motorola board as Vice Chairman and an Officer of the Board. He retired from the Motorola Board of Directors in 1998.[23][24][6]

Radio telephony and the cell phone

DynaTAC 8000X;1983, $3,995. 13" tall, weighed 30 oz.[25][9] First commercial portable cell phone. Dubbed the "Boot," later, a slimmer version was called the "Brick." DynaTAC=Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage. -First Patent Shown Here:[26] -Mitchell & DynaTAC, 04/03/73 [27]

John F. 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 pager[4][28] 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.[24] Motorola had long produced police two-way radios, military Walkie-talkies (Handie-Talkie) used in every theatre in WWII,[28] and mobile telephones for automobiles which were large (45 pounds)[28] These portable radio technologies thrust Mitchell and Motorola into the path of the powerful AT&T juggernaut.[29][30]

Mitchell's vision was wireless portable miniaturized transistor radio technology enhanced by repeater technology.[31] Mitchell's team[10] which included Martin Cooper,[32][33] Richard W. Dronsurth, Albert J. Leitich, Charles N. Lynk, James J. Mikulski,[10] Roy A. Richardson, and John H. Sangster, extended the concept of the transistorized pager, and went on to develop the first portable cellular telephony. All were granted a patent {shown at this reference[26]}for their team work in 1973. The gifted Martin Cooper is frequently credited: "Call him Dad,"[34] with the invention, but the self-effacing manager, John F. Mitchell emphasized that it really was a team invention, [35] "sparking a communication revolution that created an entirely new industry and changed the way people communicate."[34] When Mitchell formulated the idea[10] for the DynaTAC, Motorola's prototype for the first cellular phone, he boasted that his creation would be useful to a "widely diverse group of people--businessmen, journalists, doctors, and housewives, virtually anyone."[9] About 10 years and $100 million later, (1983), the DynaTAC phone, the world's first commercial hand-held cellular phone, affectionately called the "Brick,"[8][36] received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "and the cellular phone industry was born."[27][2]

In 1982 both VP George H.W. Bush and President Ronald Reagan made telephone calls using the practice licensed prototype phone carried by Bob Galvin on his visit to the White House. [37] On October 13, 1983, Bob Barnett, prexy Ameritech Cellular made the first commercial call on a DynaTAC from inside a Chrysler convertible to the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell who was in Germany for the event. The call, made at Soldier Field in Chicago, is considered by many a major turning point in communications, "...sparking a communications revolution that created an entirely new industry and changed the way people communicate."[34] Later Richard Frenkiel, another pioneer in portable cell phone technology, and the head of system development at Bell Laboratories, said about the DynaTAC : "It was a real triumph; a great breakthrough."[38]

But back in 1973,[27] Mitchell probably had no idea that by the time he retired, in 1998, wireless products would account for two-thirds of Motorola's $30 billion in annual sales. It's also a safe bet he never fathomed that one billion cell phones would be sold each year (in 2010) and that nearly 60% of the world's population would use mobile phones just a quarter-century after his brainchild was unveiled in 1983. [9] The seminal phone wasn't immediately a hit, but it placed Motorola at the forefront of the cell-phone revolution[9][25] with 300,000 subscribers in 1984. And, finally, Mitchell probably would never have dreamt that his legacy and Motorola's legacy of 17,000 patents would be acquired by Google for $12.5 billion in 2011.[39] [40] [41]

Six Sigma institute

Motorola University & Six- Sigma Institute. Frequently- used Six-Sigma symbol. Requires 99.99967% error free processes; failures ≤ 3.4 parts per mil. Six Sigma Statistical Approach (1)
 
on YouTube; Six Sigma Statistical Approach (2)
 
on YouTube; Six Sigma Statistical Approach (3)
 
on YouTube

From John Mitchell's early days at Motorola, he was seen as a demanding,[6][4] hands-on, rough and tumble leader with high regard and esteem for his co-workers.[14][9] But, it was always a team effort [10] and he was admired by his co-workers.[14] Mitchell demanded building quality into the engineering and manufacturing processes as a way of lowering costs and improving yield.[6]

Mitchell also favored competition among product lines and distributors as a business discipline to both reduce costs and to promote quality improvement.[14] His early successes in quality control appeared with the introduction of a new digital transistorized pager, and the formalization of improvised Mitchell Quality Tests.[5] Mitchell also used Shainin Methods and others[42] in his operations. [43] Mitchell set the bar high for his engineers knowing they would respond,[22] but he was always concerned about the stress levels and potential for burn-out among engineers and technicians. By the early 1970s, as Mitchell was on his ascendancy to General Manager, Communications Division in 1972, Motorola had established itself as second largest producer of electronic equipment behind IBM,[44] and as the world leader in wireless communication products, and had been battling Intel and Texas Instruments for the number one slot in Semiconductor sales. Motorola was also the largest supplier of certain parts and products to Japan's National Telegraph & Telephone Company, but at the same time, the Japanese were beginning to erode Motorola's lead in the Pager market.[45] The rapid successes and expansion of the Motorola Pager business created by Mitchell, as cited above, led to competitive deficiencies in quality controls, notwithstanding the Mitchell Testing. In the late 1970s, as Mitchell was on the ascendancy to being named President & COO in 1980, he was joined by other senior managers, notably, CEO Bob Galvin, Jack Germain,[46][44] and Art Sundry,[42][47][10][48] who worked in Mitchell's pager organization to set the quality bar 10x higher. Sundry was reputed to have shouted"Our Quality Stinks"[49][44] at an organizational meeting attended by Galvin, Mitchell and other Senior Executives; and Sundry got to keep his job.[44] But most importantly, the breakthroughs occurred when it was recognized that intensified focus and improved measurements, data collection, and more disciplined statistical approaches[48][50] had to be applied to the causes of variance. [51] Mitchell's untiring efforts,[5][6] and support from Motorola engineers[10] and senior management, prevailed and brought Japanese quality control methods back to the USA,[7] and resulted in a significant and permanent change in culture at Motorola. "We ought to be better than we are," said Germain, director of Quality Improvement.[44] The culmination of Motorola quality engineering efforts occurred in 1986, with the help of an outside quality control consultant who joined Motorola, Bill Smith[52][53][54][55] when the Motorola University and Six-Sigma Institute[7] was founded. Two years later, in 1988, Motorola received the coveted Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award[56] which is given by the United States Congress. Later, the Six Sigma processes subsequently were adopted at the General Electric Corporation. Jack Welch said: "Six Sigma changed the DNA of GE."[48][57] The Six Sigma process requires 99.99967% error free processes and products, (or 3.4 parts per million defects or less).[44] Without the Six Sigma process controls, it may not have been possible for Mitchell to launch the Iridium Constellation, one of the most complex projects undertaken by a private company, which involved some 25,000 electronic components,[58] and took 11 years to develop and implement at a cost of $5 Billion.[58] Six Sigma processes resulted in $16-17 Billion in savings to Motorola as of 2006.[59][48] A search of Safari Books Online reveals 1062 books written about Six Sigma with 532 published since 2009. [60]

Iridium satellite constellation

One of 66 Iridium satellites deployed, excluding 11 spares. Named after Iridium Element 77. During 377 days, 1998-99, 72 Iridium satellites, each weighing 1412 pounds, in 15 launches were flawlessly put into orbit, circling the earth in 100 minutes, creating network coverage to all points on earth via 18 ground relay gateways.[61][62] Click for Illustration 1 of Iridium in Orbit
 
on YouTube; Click for Illustration 2 of Iridium in Orbit
 
on YouTube

On September 28, 2011, President Barack Obama appointed[63]Matthew J. Desch, CEO, Iridium Communications, Inc., to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee; a post previously held by John F. Mitchell under President Ronald Reagan.[64][2]

On August 2, 1990, John F. Mitchell, then vice chairman of Motorola Inc., said during the announcement of the Iridium Satellite Constellation project: "Iridium brings personal communications to the world – it represents the potential for any person on the planet to communicate with any other." "…. For this reason, Iridium marks the next major milestone in global communications.”[65][66] Upon announcement, Iridium was cited as the "8th Wonder of the World;"[67]and "the darling of Wall Street - its stock price tripled within months."[68] One analyst wrote: "the technology was breathtakingly elegant and innovative."[68] When Iridium declared Bankruptcy in August 1999, it was immediately declared "one of the 20 worst business failures of all time."[68] The later statement about the comparative magnitude of the Iridium financial failure cannot be verified on any of the ranked search engines[69] on the Internet.[70] Since the bankruptcy of Iridium, thousands of articles have been written, [68] on the business and technical pros & cons of the venture;[71] and a search of Safari Books Online reveals more than 100 books written about Iridium with 46 published since 2009. [72]

After a $5 billion investment in Iridium Satell ite Constellation, with little immediate assurances of an immediate payback, Iridium Satellite Constellation was spun off to a separate company in 1998. Mitchell delayed his retirement to raise another $1.59 billion for Motorola.[4] Although the project was declared a failure (perhaps prematurely) by pundits [4][68], the issue of whether Motorola lost money on its investment is a hotly debated issue. Academia describes Mitchell as an expert on Corporate Finance and Global Marketing.[23][24] Some analysts state that Motorola limited its financial exposure and risk in the venture. [68][73] Others claim that Motorola gained more than 1000 patents[67] and $6.6 billions in contracts to offset investments.[68] These facts which have not been challenged would suggest that Motorola did not lose.[74][67][71][58][75]

As of March 2012, there are more than 3000 satellites circling the earth.[76] Wikipedia lists about 85 satellite companies. Iridium emerged from bankruptcy quickly[74][77][78] providing un  ue capabilities, by opening up a second front in the Space Race and Cold War.[77] After 25 years since its ince   ption as a concept, Iridium Satellite Constellation continues to fulfill Mitchell’s vision,[4] providing audio an  d video surveillance and links to "every point on the earth."[79][80] Since Iridium Satellite Constellation is a vital resource for Defense Information Systems Agency and United States Department of Defense[81][77] and National Security Agency,[82] it is unlikely that the full capabilities of Iridium can ever be made public. Iridium Satellite Constellation is facilitating preparedness[83] at the national[77][82][81][84] and local level,[85][86] and most importantly saving lives.[77] Considering that the electronics used today in the Iridium Satellite Constellation satellites were designed in the 1980s, it does serve as a testimony to the leadership provided by John F. Mitchell, and the Motorola executives and engineers to build one of the strongest Six Sigma engineering cultures and organizations in the world;[87]and actually solve Space Agency technology problems that defied NASA.[67][87]After John F. Mitchell retired as COO in 1988, Motorola was not able to maintain its leadership position in the world, and eventually lost considerable market-share, portfolio value, product lines, and engineering resources through layoffs.[68][88]

Other initiatives

In 1983, Mitchell was appointed U.S. President Ronald Reagan's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.[2] Mitchell was a senior member of the IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers;[8] also served a chairman of the Electronic Industries Alliance; and a recognized expert on world trade,[23] serving as director of the National Association of Manufacturers;[9] and an expert on federal fiscal policy.[89] Mitchell was a director of Bell & Howell Company; trustee Engineering Advisory Council, Marquette University;[10] and active participant in the Easter Seals(US) Campaign;[11] and member of the Presidents Council of the American Lung Association.[12] [23] Mitchell was trustee at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT); the Dublin City University, Ireland; and the University of Limerick Foundation . Mitchell was one of the architects, which also included Chuck Feeney,[13] of the huge expansion of the University of Limerick during the 1990s and 2000s through his work[90] on the University of Limerick foundation.[91][92][93] As a philanthropist and member of IIT’s Philip Danforth Armour Society, [14] Mitchell established endowed scholarship funds for the Camras Program,[15] the Leadership Academy, and electrical engineering students. To date, the John F. Mitchell Scholarship Funds have supported more than 70 students at the university.[23][24]

Awards

Mitchell was awarded Honorary Degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Humane Letters & Science, 1995[94]; an honorary doctorate of business administration from Iowa Wesleyan College, on May 18,1985.[95][96]; and from Dublin City University, Ireland(Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath), Ireland, on October 25, 1996[97]. Recipient of the 2003 Chicago Innovation Award.[98] IIT Alumni Association award for Professional Achievement,1985[16] . Alumni Medal 1994, IIT Alumni Association. IIT Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement Award (posthumous) 2010.[8][99]

Publications

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.[44] 

U.S. Patent 3,906,166, September 16, 1975 for a Radio Telephone System. the cell phone. [100] Martin Cooper, Richard W. Dronsurth, Albert J. Leitich, Charles N. Lynk,[101] James J. Mikulski,[10][102],[30] John F. Mitchell, Roy A. Richardson, and John H. Sangster. NOTA BENE: Two names were botched in the original filing; Albert Leitich's surname was erroneously omitted, and included herein, and the first name of Mikulski was omitted, but included herein. The original document was refiled by Motorola's legal staff, but has not yet been identified. The seeds of the idea for a portable cell phone can be traced to James J. Mikulski, which were rejected by Mitchell for lack of sufficient business justifications. It is rumored that when John Mitchell suddenly recognized during an attempted phone call that his 400MHz phone had inherent limitations, he immediately reversed his previous decision and championed the portable cell phone concept.[30][103]

U.S. Patent 5,650,776, July 22, 1997 for a Communications Receiver with Thomas F. Holmes

Personal Life

Mitchell lived in Palatine, Illinois with his wife of 68 years, Margaret Jeanne Gillis Mitchell.[1] They have three children and four grandchildren. John F. Mitchell's son, Kevin Patrick Mitchell, a Motorola Vice President and Project Leader, led the development of the popular Motorola Slim Line[104] introduced in 2000. Mitchell was a true son of Ireland- "mhac Eireann." He was charismatic with a booming, lilting Irish Tenor voice[11][13] and could produce a Tin Whistle[14] with the finesse of a magician's wand. John Mitchell's musical side came out rather theatrically as his family crossed the Irish countryside, listening to him play the tin whistle and sing.[14] In his philanthropy he was devoted to improving the lot of the people of Ireland,[90] and with a particular emphasis on helping young engineers.

As business leader he was quick to realize the importance of accessing the educated human resources available at the time in Ireland with its fledgling economy. With the assistance of the Irish Development Authority (IDA) Motorola placed computer chip and other manufacturing plants in Ireland. [105]

External Links



http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-17/news/0906160393_1_mr-mitchell-cell-phone-john-f-mitchell

 

John F. Mitchell, 1928-2009: Was president of Motorola from 1980 to '95

June 17, 2009|By Clare Lane, TRIBUNE REPORTER

John F. Mitchell helped engineer the technology that paved the way for the world's first cell phone during a 45-year career at Motorola, where he was president from 1980 to 1995.

Mr. Mitchell, 81, died of cancer Thursday, June 11, in a hospice in Palatine, said his son Kevin. He was a resident of Inverness.

A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Mr. Mitchell was named vice chairman of Motorola in 1995 and retired three years later.

He was "the last of the real rough-and-tumble managers," said Ray Millington, an engineer and Motorola colleague of 20 years.

As chief engineer for mobile and portable products, Mr. Mitchell helped develop the first design for a portable and consumer-friendly cellular telephone system. Motorola's DynaTAC, a radio and telephone cellular system, came out in 1973 and became the basis for the company's first commercial hand-held cell phone.

Mr. Mitchell strongly advocated for competition among cell phone distributors -- one of the non-technical contributions he made to help assure the product's success.

"He had the ability to combine his engineering expertise with very strong business acumen," Millington said.

The son of Irish immigrants, Mr. Mitchell grew up on Chicago's North Side and became interested in technology early on when his parents bought him an erector set.

"He was always an engineer," his son said.

He worked as a lifeguard at Oak Street Beach and later served in the Navy before enrolling at IIT.

At Motorola, he was a much-admired boss whose well-crafted memos were treasured by employees. "People meant more to my father than any piece of technology," his son said. "It was always about the team, not him."

He retained a lifelong enthusiasm for swimming, and designed pools for the backyards of three homes. For a condominium that he had built on St. Petersburg Beach, Fla., Mr. Mitchell told the contractor at the last minute to rotate the building about 30 degrees, which created a better view of the ocean and room for a bigger pool.

The family took many trips to Ireland to visit relatives. Mr. Mitchell's musical side came out rather theatrically as the family crossed the Irish countryside, listening to him play the tin whistle and sing.

Mr. Mitchell also is survived by his wife, Margaret J.; a son, John; a daughter, Cathy; two brothers, William and Edward; and five grandchildren. Services were held.



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124546835819133721.html

Motorola Executive Helped Spur Cellphone Revolution, Oversaw Ill-Fated Iridium Project  By STEPHEN MILLER
Editorial note:  Miller was careless in his description of Iridium as ill-fated. Motorola made a profit on Iridium.  Galvin’s dream of Motorola’s Iridium as the hub of worldwide communication system was not realized.  But Mitchell’s engineering technology in the 77 satellites is still working 20 years after design, a remarkable feat in this age of obsolescence.
As the leader of Motorola Inc.'s communications division, John F. Mitchell charted the development of the revolutionary first generation of cellphones, popular for their forward-looking technology but unaffectionately nicknamed "bricks" for their size and heft. In the end, almost nobody on Planet Earth would be able to avoid phone calls.
Within a few years of their deployment in the early 1980s, cellphones were miniaturized and Motorola would dominate cell technology for a decade. But even as Motorola soared by manufacturing cellphones, Mr. Mitchell, by then the company's president and chief operating officer, had become head cheerleader for what would be its greatest flop, the Iridium satellite phone system.
Enlarge Image

 
Motorola Inc Archives
Motorola's top management, pictured in 1975, consisted of William Weisz, from left, Robert Galvin and John Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell charted the development of the revolutionary first generation of cellphones.
Iridium was a technologically visionary system of 66 satellites that promised -- and delivered -- telephone connectivity between any two points on the globe. But it was prohibitively expensive, and by the time it became operational, in 1998, much of its functionality had been subsumed by cheaper cell systems Motorola itself had pioneered. Mr. Mitchell delayed his retirement and racked up a million flying miles raising $1.59 billion in investment capital for Iridium, which made its debut as a separate company in 1998. Within nine months, Iridium filed for bankruptcy protection.
"It was a triumph of technology over business," says Howard Anderson, founder of the Yankee Group, a technology research and consulting firm, and now a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
For Mr. Mitchell, who died June 11 at 81, Iridium was the culmination of lessons he had learned about making high-tech communications available wherever the customer wanted. The son of an Irish-born Chicago patrolman, he joined Motorola in 1953 as an electrical engineer educated at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Motorola had been founded in 1928 and made its reputation with car radios. During World War II, it produced walkie-talkies for G.I.'s. After the war, the
In 1960, Mr. Mitchell was named chief engineer for mobile and portable products. One early hit was the first transistorized pager. Motorola had long produced mobile phones, suitcase-size devices with the guts typically mounted in car trunks. Early models drew so much power that a car's engine had to be running for them to work. With Mr. Mitchell pushing hard, Motorola engineers developed portable cell telephony, including tiny antennas that helped free the mobile phone from the car.
A patent on the concept was granted to a group of Motorola engineers, including Mr. Mitchell, in 1973. He unveiled a prototype the same year, in a presentation former Motorola Chairman Robert Galvin says was partly aimed at Federal Communications Commission regulators who were considering granting AT&T a cellphone monopoly to go with its land-line monopoly. The first call in Motorola's demonstration ended up being to a wrong number.
By the mid-1970s, Mr. Mitchell had joined the firm's top management. In 1983, Motorola introduced the first commercially available cellphone, the DynaTAC 8000x. Retailing at $3,995, it didn't quite fly off the shelf. But cell technology gathered momentum, and by the time Mr. Mitchell retired as vice chairman in 1998, wireless products and services made up $20 billion of Motorola's annual $30 billion in sales.
Motorola has lagged in the cellphone race over the past decade, ceding leadership first to Nokia Corp., then to Research In Motion Ltd. and Apple Inc. The company has gone through several changes in leadership, and last year announced it was planning to spin off its handset division.
In retirement, Mr. Mitchell was pleased to watch Iridium emerge from bankruptcy proceedings and go on to perform as advertised in high-stress situations, providing communication in war zones and during natural disasters. But he didn't go in for high-tech gadgets. He built a terrace-mounted reflecting box so he could watch sunsets safely at his St. Petersburg, Fla., condominium. He kept an ancient mobile-phone unit in his car.
Not long ago, Verizon notified him that it was shutting down service for such analog antiques. His son, Kevin Mitchell, recalls: "Dad said, 'I've really got to write them a letter about that.' "



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC

The first cellular phone was the culmination of efforts begun at Bell Labs, which first proposed the idea of a cellular system in 1947, and continued to petition the FCC for channels through the 1950s and 1960s, and research conducted at Motorola. In 1960, John F. Mitchell, an electrical engineer who graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology, became Motorola's chief engineer for its mobile communication products. Mitchell oversaw the development and marketing of the first pager to use transistors.
Motorola had long produced mobile telephones for automobiles, that were large and heavy and consumed too much power to allow their use without the automobile's engine running. Mitchell's team developed portable cellular telephony, and Mitchell was among the Motorola employees granted a patent for this work in 1973; the first call on the prototype was completed, reportedly, to a wrong number.[2][3] While Motorola was developing the cellular phone itself, during 1968-1983, Bell Labs worked on the system called AMPS, which became the first cellular network in the U.S. Motorola and others designed cell phones for that and other cellular systems. Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola led a team that produced the DynaTAC8000x, first commercially available cellular phone small enough to be easily carried, and made the first phone call from it. The DynaTAC's retail price, $3,995 ($9322 in present-day terms[4]), ensured that it would not become a mass-market item; by 1998, when Mitchell retired, cellphones and associated services made up two thirds of Motorola's $30 billion in revenue.[5]
Note:  need to adjust the above story to reflect more of jfm

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/2012-05-25-motorolas-history-lesson-for-google/

Motorola’s History Lesson for Google
By Peter Burrows  | May 25, 2012 8:17 PM EDT |
Photograph by Bettmann/Corb
Motorola Vice President John F. Mitchell shows off the DynaTAC portable radio telephone in New York City in 1973.  The blog story below which include John F. Mitchell’s photo grossly understates the contributions of Mitchell.  Bob Galvin was not the tech superstar; he was a good strategist but relied entirely of the vision and technical knowhow of John F. Mitchell.
(This blog was corrected. An earlier version misattributed a comment in the 16th paragraph.)
With Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility now complete, a saga that Brad Stone and I explored in this week’s issue of Businessweek, a closer look at the history of the cell-phone maker — formerly one of the most admired companies in the world — could serve as a lesson for the online search giant as it maps its future.
In many ways, Google is the old Motorola. These days, Google is known around Silicon Valley as a company willing to invest in seemingly nutty ideas — from archiving the world’s books to inventing driver-less cars. For more than half a century, Motorola was also famous for making big, audacious bets.
In the 1930s, after two failed attempts to start battery companies, founder Paul Galvin hit pay dirt with the car radio (“Motorola” is derived from “motorcar” and “Victrola”). It dominated the two-way radio market, from walkie-talkies to the one Neil Armstrong used to proclaim his “giant leap for mankind.”
Again and again, the company was at the forefront of important new tech markets. It was a leader in TVs from the 1950s until it sold its Quasar brand to Panasonic in 1974 (a textbook example of knowing when to get out of a maturing tech market). It was a major force in semiconductors, including the microprocessors that powered Apple’s computers from 1976 through 2006. Motorola pioneered the two-way pager, and for years has been one of the top makers of cable set-top boxes.
All of these paled next to Motorola’s greatest hit, the cell phone. Then under the leadership of Paul’s son Bob, who was chief executive officer from 1964 to 1986, the company began investing in mobile phones in the 1970s, without so much as a focus group to check on demand, said Martin Cooper, who ran the division.
“Bob used to always say that you can’t build products that people ask for, because they don’t know they need them,” Cooper said.
At the time, few shared Motorola’s optimism. Chris Galvin, Bob’s son and the CEO of Motorola from 1997 to 2004, recalls that in 1978, McKinsey & Co. did a study suggesting that the cumulative number of cellular subscriptions through 2000 would be just 900,000.
Even after the company rolled out the first commercial cell phone model in 1983, many managers advised a go-slow approach, said Sandy Ogg, formerly Motorola’s senior vice president of leadership, learning and performance. Ogg now runs operations for private equity firm Blackstone Group.
Bob Galvin didn’t listen. By 2000, “the cellular industry was manufacturing 900,000 cell phones every day,” said his son.
The success was far more than just financial. Motorola’s stolid, Midwestern exterior may look stodgy relative to Google’s hipper vibe, but both were forces of progressive management thinking. In the late 1980s, Bob Galvin championed the Six Sigma quality management program that helped U.S. companies beat back competition from Japan Inc. Internally, the company coddled its innovators, giving them the freedom to pursue projects that is reminiscent of Google’s well-known 20 percent rule.
“If someone made a mistake when they were introducing something new, the Galvin philosophy was that they’d just become worth tons more to us than they were before, because we’d paid for their education,” said Chris Galvin.
No doubt, audaciousness can be expensive when the bets don’t pay off. Take the Iridium project, a phone service powered by a network of 66 satellites designed to be an “electronic skin around the earth,” in Bob Galvin’s words. While prescient, Motorola ended up losing billions of dollars on the project before selling it out of bankruptcy for $25 million.
But it was the lack of audaciousness that contributed to Motorola’s decline. As the cell phone industry went digital in the mid-1990s, Ogg recalled how some Motorola executives argued that consumers wanted analog, not digital, because it sounded better. Within just a few years time, Moto handed its market share lead to Nokia.
Then in 2004, Motorola designers came up with a bold, thin new design called the Razr. With good looks and an edgy TV ad campaign, it was enough to stand out in the final days of the pre-iPhone era. The company would sell more than 100 million of them over the next few years, lifting the company’s sales to an all-time high of $43 billion in 2006.
Still, Motorola would lose its way in the age of versatile devices such as the iPhone, even though it had been dabbling with touch screen-based models for years. It had even acquired a team of talented Silicon Valley techies from Good Technology to develop phones based on Google’s then-nascent Android software. Despite this, management stuck with the Razr and cranked out cheaper, less innovative versions that didn’t catch on and resulted in big losses.
“From where I sat, it looked like the starship had been turned into a crop duster,” said Jim Phillips, a former Motorola executive who is now CEO of NanoMech, a nanotechnology manufacturing company.
Motorola Mobility “has long been focused on making leaps forward in innovation,” according to a statement from Jennifer Erickson, a spokeswoman for the company. Beyond the world’s first cell phone and Razr, she also pointed to hit products including the Droid.
Google’s acquisition doesn’t mean the end of the Motorola name. The search giant will use the name on its phones, and telecom equipment maker Motorola Solutions remains.
Still, the fall in prestige is shocking to those who remember the better years.
“It was a heartbreak for me; I started that division,” said Cooper, widely considered the “father of the cell phone.”
When Bob Galvin, a tech superstar during Motorola’s heyday, died last October at age 89, the news coverage didn’t come close to the media attention given to Steve Jobs, who had passed away a week earlier.
Former Motorola President Mike Zafirovski said the passing of Apple’s co-founder overshadowed the loss of Galvin and his accomplishments.  “Bob deserved more,” said Zafirovski.
What’s the lesson for Google? To avoid being overshadowed itself someday, it needs to keep placing those big bets.
That’s certainly the philosophy Google has adopted so far. But learning from success is one thing. As it begins re-creating Motorola for its purposes, Larry Page & Co. can learn first-hand how a once-proud company goes from great to — in the case of Motorola’s cell-phone unit — gone.

contains photos of people who died on 2009-06-13.  Hover over photo for details.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.dailyherald.com/stories/158/normal/158965.jpg&imgrefurl=http://67.151.102.2/story/?id%3D300324&h=270&w=195&sz=7&tbnid=GHpOIK65Hg7n7M:&tbnh=105&tbnw=76&zoom=1&usg=__gzxVirqFVIyzUXcy-JjwIjjo4JQ=&docid=Rwk-5DGLXkkXLM&itg=1&sa=X&ei=kU5ZUL-BMO6H0QGvq4G4DQ&ved=0CE0Q9QEwCA&dur=69

John F. Mitchell of Inverness, a key architect of wireless communications and one of the original patent holders on Motorola's DynaTac portable phone prototype, died Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 81.
Mitchell joined Motorola in 1953 and retired as vice chairman of the board in 1998. During his 45-year career, Mitchell shaped the creation of nearly all of the wireless communications industries in the latter half of the 20th century.


http://braddye.com/newsletters/2009/n26june2009a.html

I was very sorry to hear that former Motorola president John Mitchell passed away recently. He and Marty Cooper were the inventors/designers of the first Motorola cellphone.

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/alt.obituaries/oU8dGFoHmtk

LA TIMES
John F. MitchellMotorola cellphone pioneer
John F. Mitchell, 81, who helped engineer the technology that paved the way
for the world's first cellular phone during a 45-year career at Motorola,
where he was president from 1980 to 1995, died of cancer June 11, 2009, at a
hospice in Palatine, Ill., said his son Kevin.
As chief engineer for mobile and portable products at Schaumburg, Ill.-based
Motorola, Mitchell helped develop the first design for a portable and
consumer-friendly cellular telephone system. Motorola's DynaTAC, a radio and
telephone cellular system, came out in 1973 and became the basis for the
company's first commercial hand-held cellphone.
Mitchell strongly advocated for competition among cellphone distributors --  
one of the nontechnical contributions he made to help ensure the product's
success.
Born in 1928 to Irish immigrants, Mitchell grew up on Chicago's North Side
and developed an early interest in technology when his parents bought him an
Erector set.
A veteran of the Navy and graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology,
Mitchell was named vice chairman of Motorola in 1995 and retired three years
later.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1907159,00.html

TIME MAGAZINE:  When he formulated the idea for the DynaTAC, Motorola's prototype for the first cellular phone, John F. Mitchell, who died on June 11 at 81, boasted that his creation would be useful to a "widely diverse group of people--businessmen, journalists, doctors, housewives, virtually anyone." But back in 1973, Mitchell--then chief engineer of the company's mobile- and portable-products division and later the company's president and chief operating officer--probably had no idea that by the time he retired, in 1998, wireless products would account for two-thirds of Motorola's $30 billion in annual sales. It's also a safe bet he never fathomed that nearly 60% of the world's population would use mobile phones just a quarter-century after his brainchild was unveiled in 1983.
But the mobile industry has come a long way since the release of the "brick," as the DynaTAC was dubbed. The phone weighed nearly 3 lb.; Apple's iPhone clocks in at just under 5 oz. It took 10 hours to recharge and retailed for $3,995. Calls to the DynaTAC were carried through telephone lines to a central computer and then transmitted by radio.
Bulky design aside, the brick was a defining achievement for Mitchell, a rough-and-tumble manager whose interest in technology was kindled by the Erector set he had received as a child. The seminal phone wasn't a hit, but it placed Motorola at the forefront of the cell-phone revolution.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseorganic/7538688220/

FLICKR PHOTO OF John F. Mitchell

The following is a good source to use for links[**]
http://www.historyofthecellphone.com/people/john-mitchell.php

History of the Cellular (Cell/Mobile) Phone - People - Dr John F Mitchell

 

 Alexander G. Bell

 B. Ghillebaert

 C. Dunstone

 Daniel Noble

 F. Hillebrand

 Gug. Marconi

 Lars Ericsson

 Lee De Forest

 John Mitchell

 Karl Braun

 Mahlon Loomis

 Martin Cooper

 Michael Faraday

 Reg. Fessenden

 Samuel Morse

      

John F Mitchell was the chief engineer of Motorola's mobile- and portable-products division. He later became the company's president and chief operating officer.

In many ways, the history of the cell (mobile) phone began life at Bell Labs way back in 1947 when they first put forward the idea of a cellular system. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the company continued to ask the FCC for channels. Motorola was also becoming a major player in the mobile communication industry and, in 1960, John F. Mitchell, who was an electrical engineer from the Illinois Institute of Technology, became Motorola's chief engineer for its mobile communications products. Mitchell oversaw the development and marketing of the first pager to use transistors.

 

Motorola had for a long time been producing mobile telephones for vehicles, but these were large and heavy and, due to the amount of power they consumed, required the vehicle's engine to be running in order for the phones to be used. Mitchell's team was responsible for developing portable cellular telephony, and Mitchell was among the Motorola employees granted a patent for this work in 1973.

Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola led the team that produced the DynaTAC 8000X, which was the first commercially available cell phone small enough to be 'easily' carried. Cooper made the first phone call from a prototype phone in 1973. The DynaTAC's retail price, $3,995 (about $8800 in present-day terms - 2011), ensured that it would not become a mass-market item.

 

By 1998, when Mitchell retired, cell (mobile) phones and associated services made up an incredible two thirds of Motorola's $30 billion revenue stream.

John F. Mitchell died on June 11, 2009, aged 81 and will be remembered as a significant contributor to the history of the cell (mobile) phone.

Links to the 15 top giants in telephony
  Alexander G. Bell  B. Ghillebaert  C. Dunstone  Daniel Noble  F. Hillebrand
  Gug. Marconi  Lars Ericsson  Lee De Forest  John Mitchell  Karl Braun
  Mahlon Loomis  Martin Cooper  Michael Faraday  Reg. Fessenden  Samuel Morse
http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Consumers/Corporate/History/_Documents/Motorola-Heritage-DynaTAC-NewsRelease.pdf
Announcement for the first cell phone in 1973 by Motorola
http://www.brophy.net/PivotX/?p=john-francis-mitchell-biography
JFM APERCU AND DETAILED BIO WITH LINKS TO MANY SOURCES

MITCHELL: PORTABLE COMMUNICATIONS:  AN ANALYSIS OF PORTABLE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNICAL STANDARDS by. John F. Mitchell. Motorola; 1965.  
ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/10785/33985/01621809.pdf -  ...BROKEN LINK; WHERE IS THIS PAPER[**]


PERSONAL RADIO SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS,  John F. Mitchell , 1958 ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/10784/33978/01621736.pdf  BROKEN LINK; WHERE IS PAPER [**]
PERSONAL RADIO SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS. John F. Mitchell. Motorola, Inc. 8 . Illinois. Chicago,. Summary.   This paper is a discussion of the system aspects of radio systems designed to use the new types of Personal Radio Equipment which have been, and are being, introduced to the market in increasing numbers and types. Several actual applications are discussed. These examples cover the two basic types of equipment now in use, which are two-way non-selective call units, and one-way selective calling paging units. The basic capabilities of the personal equipment are examined insofar as they pertain to Personal Radio System Design. The limitation and advantage of this equipment as well as the new uses and applications of this equipment are treated.

http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/sptimes/guestbook.aspx?n=john-mitchell&pid=128392551


http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/18/local/me-passings18.S2

http://www.info-pics.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

http://www.motorolasolutions.com/US-EN/About/Company+Overview/History/Explore+Motorola+Heritage/Handie-Talkie+Paging+System
BACK IN 1955

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-14/news/0906130461_1_motorola-role-model-electrical-engineer

http://friendfeed.com/caseorganic/a0137e08/motorola-vice-president-john-f-mitchell-shows

http://www.accuconference.com/resources/invented-the-cell-phone.aspx
History of various aspects of cell phones.
excerpt: Invention of the Cell Phone: Ericsson developed the Mobile Telephone system A (MTA) in 1956, making it the first fully automatic mobile phone system. It was released in Sweden and the original phone weighed 90 pounds, though the upgraded version released in 1965 weighed 20 pounds. The service shut down in 1983 after only attracting 600 customers. The modern cell phone did not come about until 1973 when Motorola and Bell Labs began a race to develop the first mobile phone following AT&T’s proposal to the FCC for cellular service. Motorola won with their researcher and executive Martin Cooper inventing and patenting the first mobile cell phone with his boss John F. Mitchell. Martin Cooper made the first cellular phone call on April 3, 1973 to none other than his rival and competitor Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs. Ten years later in 1983, Motorola released the 30 ounce, $3,500 DynaTAC cell phone for sale. Seven years later there were one million subscribers. In stark contrast to the first mobile phone, today’s cell phones can weigh as little as 3 ounces, with retail prices being so cost effective that today more people subscribe to a cell phone service than do a land line service.





http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=3906166.PN.&OS=PN/3906166&RS=PN/3906166
Patent for first Mobile Cell Phone:  inventors listed in alphabetical order.   Cooper is listed first in alphabetical order but Bob Galvin and John F. Mitchell gave Cooper credit for the invention, but Mitchell was Cooper’s mentor for more than 30 years and was an active participant in the invention of the cell phone.  “Together they invented the cell phone.”


http://www.squidoo.com/martin-cooper

http://www.winlab.rutgers.edu/~narayan/Course/Wireless_Revolution/LL24-%20IRIDIUM.pdf

http://www.ulfoundation.com/news/john-mitchell-1928-2009/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_invented_the_mobile_technology
Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive is considered to be the inventor of the first practical mobile phone for hand-held use in a non-vehicle setting, after a long race against Bell Labs for the first portable mobile phone. Cooper is the first inventor named on "Radio telephone system" filed on October 17, 1973 with the US Patent Office and later issued as US Patent 3,906,166; other named contributors on the patent included Cooper's boss, John F. Mitchell, Motorola's chief of portable communication products, who successfully pushed Motorola to develop wireless communication products that would be small enough to use outside the home, office or automobile and participated in the design of the cellular phone. Using a modern, if somewhat heavy portable handset, Cooper made the first call on a hand-held mobile phone on April 3, 1973 to his rival, Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.





http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa070899.htm
History of Cellular Phones.  Mitchell named on patent.

http://formaementis.wordpress.com/tag/technology/page/3/

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/27/business/company-news-stock-of-motorola-off-on-phone-plan.html

http://technology.newsplurk.com/2012/05/motorola-mobility-sanjay-jha-leaving.html

http://www.motorolasolutions.com/web/Business/Corporate/About/History/_docs/1968_Motorola_Annual_Report.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Motorola annual report. ' 1968 creativity and diversification in electronics ... From its inception, Motorola concentrated in electronics. ...... JOHN F. MITCHELL ...


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sptimes/obituary.aspx?n=john-f-mitchell&pid=128392551#fbLoggedOut



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Cooper_%28inventor%29

http://biographycolllection.blogspot.com/2012/03/martin-cooper-inventor-of-first-mobile.html

http://www.enotes.com/topic/Motorola_DynaTAC

http://www.motorolasolutions.com/web/Business/Corporate/About/History/_docs/1967_Motorola_Annual_Report.pdf

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-10-31/business/9102140153_1_motorola-executives-paging-radio-users

http://www.info-pics.com/2011/08/fun-facts-cell-phones.html



http://www.enotes.com/topic/Martin_Cooper_%28inventor%29

http://books.google.com/books?id=4CqvpWwMLVEC&pg=PA999&lpg=PA999&dq=john+f.+mitchell+motorola&source=bl&ots=LNnQooyrXu&sig=jCwsji1Ct_-57TtxbRM6Iizp3vI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Jp5aUM7lH-b00gG6x4H4Dw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBTge#v=onepage&q=john%20f.%20mitchell%20motorola&f=false
WHERE DID THIS COME FROM;  

http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=ABEA-2FO3VV&docid=781708

http://www.123people.co.uk/s/john+f+mitchell

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/alt.obituaries/oU8dGFoHmtk/GJouj27Q7R8J

http://www.techagreements.com/agreement-preview.aspx?title=Motorola%20-%20Consultant%20Agreement&num=493216

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/mckinsey/recent/3
??

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/09/business/business-people-motorola-has-high-post-for-founder-s-grandson.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Blackstone-Group/news
??

http://a332.g.akamai.net/7/332/787/1048a6b115822c/www.motorola.com/General/Financial/Annual_Report/1997/directors.html


http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=ABEA-2FO3VV&docid=355939

http://books.google.com/books?id=OVG0xdkgX28C&pg=PA364&lpg=PA364&dq=john+f+mitchell+motorola&source=bl&ots=THw1wl7ZBF&sig=0JRGKAdseJtQNFG05o-0e9DzYao&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BO1bUO5VxJrRAcX3gZgO&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAjgo#v=onepage&q=john%20f%20mitchell%20motorola&f=false


http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_martin_cooper_become_famous

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_Henry_Sampson_invent_the_cell_phone

http://luyano-cuba.blogspot.com/2010/03/martin-cooper-primer-celular-en-el.html

http://www.motorolasolutions.com/web/Business/Corporate/About/History/_docs/1969_Motorola_Annual_Report.pdf


go page 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones

NOTE;  GO BACK TO THIS SITE AND LINK TO MITCHELL BIO
John F. Mitchell, Motorola's chief of portable communication products and 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.[15][16]

http://www.infobarrel.com/Who_Invented_the_Cell_Phone

 Who invented the cell phone? Dr. Martin Cooper is known world wide as the inventor of the modern day cell phone. He not only created the device but he was also the first individual to place a call from a mobile phone in 1973. The concept of the cell phone had been around since 1947, it took 26 years for that concept to make it to reality.
Dr. Cooper, who was born in 1928, was raised in Chicago where he went to a technological school and earned a degree in electrical engineering. Before he went on to greatness at Motorola, he served in the US Navy. After the Navy, Dr. Cooper got his foot in the door in the communications field with a small telecommunications firm in Chicago.
In 1954, Dr. Cooper moved to Motorola and worked along side John Mitchell, who was the chief engineer of mobile projects. They worked on trying to develop light weight, mobile devices. Together Mitchell and Cooper became the cell phone invention pioneers. They are the brains behind the project that came up with the police radio. The radios were first used in 1967 in Dr. Coopers hometown of Chicago. From there Dr. Cooper moved on to a new research area in Motorola, cellular research.
Dr. Cooper is who invented the cell phone, which came six short years after the police radio was in circulation, in 1973. He wanted to create a portable device that people could use from anywhere they wanted. The project was brought to the FCC to show them the capabilities of cellular technology as well as getting their approval to make it available to the public. They were also hoping to convince the FCC to allow companies to have access to the unused radio frequency space, so that they could take advantage of such a great piece of technology. After getting the FCC approval that they sought, John F. Mitchell and Dr. Cooper took the device to New York.
During this same time period, AT&T was competing to be the first company to release cellular technology, but they focused their research on the car phone instead of portable devices. This decision allowed Motorola to come out ahead in the early years of cellular technology.
 On arrival in New York, John F. Mitchell and Dr. Cooper and Mitchell’s team went to work setting everything up. The first thing they had to do was get approval from the city to build a base station. After that Dr. Cooper set out to draw public interest and investors by planning a public demonstration at a press conference. The first prototype mobile phone was the Motorola Dyna-Tac. It took three months to design and build.
 
Motorola Vice President and Chief Engineer, John F. Mitchell shows off the DynaTAC portable radio telephone in New York City in 1973.  The mobile phone was dubbed the “boot” and later the “brick.”  Mitchell later went to become President and COO, and was known to make things happen in “the engineering way.”  His emphasis on quality changed the culture at Motorola leading to “Six-sigma” and Motorola University.  Mitchell also oversaw the engineering of Iridium which launched 77 satellites in synchronous orbits in a perios of less than 15 months with zero defects.  
April 3, 1973 has come to be known as the day the cell phone was born. It was on that day that Dr. Cooper stood at street level outside a Hilton Hotel in Manhattan and had an inner debate with himself about testing the device before it was revealed to the public at the press conference. His nerves got the better of him and he turned it on.
Once the two pound phone was powered up, Dr. Cooper was quickly connected with the cellular station of the Burlington Consolidated Tower, which then patched the call into the landline phone network. As people watched on curiously he dialed the phone number of someone important, his main rival Mr. Joel Engel.
Joel Engel was the head of research at Bell Laboratories. Bell was a section of AT&T, the prime competitor to Motorola during the sixties and seventies. Both companies kept one another busy with projects and ideas that lead to not only the cell phone but many other advancements in telecommunication. AT&T followed Motorola a year later, in 1974, with their own cellular device, the first car phone.
Ten years later, in 1983, the first set of cellular phones went on sale to the public. The main reason it took ten years to get the public to accept it was the price. Many others thought they were too big and bulky, at only half the size of the original, to be practical for every day use. But if it weren't for Dr. Cooper we may not have what we do today when it comes to cell phones and tablets.
Dr. Cooper founded ArrayComm in 1992 after leaving Motorola. ArrayComm has continued to advance his research and still does today. They are responsible for the adaptive antenna technology that allowed wireless networks to have bigger coverage and be able to handle more people on them.
ArrayComm has managed to make all these advancements while continuing to lower costs and making phone calls more reliable. This is something that many other companies are not fond of doing. Dr. Cooper has stated in interviews that his company aims to fulfill a promise he made when he came up with the cell phone, creating cheap and reliable wireless service for everyone. Something that is slowly coming to fruition despite constant legal wrangling with the wireless companies.
The next time you pick up your wireless device, send a silent thank you to Dr. Cooper. Without his mind, vision and Motorola's backing, we might not have the mobile devices that we all love to use today.
Read more at http://www.infobarrel.com/Who_Invented_the_Cell_Phone#ZtT3B2G3IkgPtMOG.99
http://www.smithcorcoran.com/obits/obituaries.php/obitID/890725

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/google/
good clear picture of mitchell in nyc with into of cell phone

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/apple/
same as above

http://mobile-phone.how-old-is-this.com/
NAMES ON PATENT ARE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive is widely considered to be the inventor of the first practical mobile phone for hand-held use in a non-vehicle setting. Cooper is the first inventor named on "Radio telephone system" filed on October 17, 1973 with the US Patent Office and later issued as US Patent 3,906,166; other named contributors on the patent included Cooper's boss, John F. Mitchell, Motorola's chief of portable communication products, who successfully pushed Motorola to develop wireless communication products that would be small enough to use outside the home, office or automobile and participated in the design of the cellular phone.Using a modern, if somewhat heavy portable handset, Cooper made the first call on a hand-held mobile phone on April 3, 1973 to a rival, Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseorganic/7538688220/meta/

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/tag/motorola/

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/author/pburrows/

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/posts/page/4/


http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/tag/smartphones/

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/mobile/

http://www.motorola.com/General/Financial/Annual_Report/1996/lite/14_board/board.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola#cite_ref-13
^ John F. Mitchell, Time Magazine Milestones section, July 6, 2009, p.17
note;  COME BACK TO THIS WEBSITE AND PUT IN LINKS TO JFM BIO


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Notes from above article

    ^ "Motorola Office Locations"
     
    . Retrieved July 26, 2010.
    ^ "Dan Moloney, President"
     
    . Motorola Inc.. June 2011. Retrieved June 2011.
    ^ Silver, Sara; Lublin, Joann S. (August 5, 2008). "Motorola Lures Jha to Head Cellphone Unit". The Wall Street Journal: p. B1.
    ^ http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-2FO3VV/917020769x0x359291/AD7222B4-C7FE-490B-882F-FFACDA370B7B/MOT_2009_Annual_Report_on_Form_10-K_Wrap.pdf
     
    ^ "Fortune 500 2008: Motorola"
     
    . CNN. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
    ^ Ante, Spencer E. (January 5, 2011). "Motorola Is Split Into Two"
     
    . The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
    ^ a b "Motorola Solutions Inc: NYSE:MSI quotes & news – Google Finance"
     
    . Google. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ Google Official Blog: "We’ve acquired Motorola Mobility"
     
    . Google. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
    ^ Mahon, Morgan E. A Flick of the Switch 1930–1950 (Antiques Electronics Supply, 1990), p.111.
    ^ A Legacy of Innovation: Timeline of Motorola history since 1928
     
    . Motorola Solutions, Inc.. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
    ^ Music in Motion: The First Motorola Brand Car Radio
     
    . Motorola Inc. Retrieved December 15, 2007 (see "Birth of the Motorola Brand")
    ^ a b Hempel, Jessi (September 28, 2009). "Motorola gets in the game"
     
    . CNNMoney.com. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
    ^ "Historic News Releases"
     
    . Motorola Inc.. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ John F. Mitchell, Time Magazine Milestones section, July 6, 2009, p.17
    ^ King, Ben (28 September 2005). "How Britain lost Sendo"
     
    . The Register. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
    ^ "Motorola acquires TTPCom AJAR Software Platform"
     
    . Motorola Inc.. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "iRadio"
     
    . Motorola Inc.. Retrieved February 3, 2008.
    ^ "Google's Motorola acquisition: Nail in the Android patent coffin?"
     
    . ZDNet. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
    ^ "Motorola Mobility Stockholders Approve Merger with Google"
     
    . Motorola Mobility, Inc. November 17, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola Mobility – Motorola Solutions – About Motorola – Directional Landing Page"
     
    . Motorola Inc.. January 4, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola profit slides on mobile woes; shares hit 5-year low"
     
    . MarketWatch. January 23, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola CTO Richard Nottenburg takes off"
     
    . Engadget. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola Phones Sales Crash 38 Per Cent"
     
    . TrustedReviews. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola to lay off 3,500"
     
    . Engadget Mobile. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola cuts another 4,000 jobs"
     
    . Engadget Mobile. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ slashing 20% of its research division
    ^ "Motorola sues former employee turned Apple exec for ganking trade secrets"
     
    . Engadget. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola insider tells all about the fall of a technology icon"
     
    . Engadget. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ Olga Kharif and Roger O. Crockett (July 10, 2008). "Motorola's Market Share Mess"
     
    . BusinessWeek. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
    ^ "Motorola ends fiscal Q2 with healthy profit – GSMArena.com news"
     
    . Gsmarena.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ "Detailed History"
     
    . Prestolite Electric Inc. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
    ^ "Printrak a Motorola Company"
     
    answers.com, retrieved on September 26, 2011
    ^ "Motorola to Buy Printrak for $160 Million"
     
    Los Angeles Times, 2000-08-30, retrieved on September 26, 2011
    ^ "Law enforcement enlists fingerprint technology to fight crime Contract awards latest in string of wins for Printrak International"
     
    findarticles.com, 1995-04-27, retrieved on September 26, 2011
    ^ "Safran Completes Acquisition of Motorola's Biometrics Business"
     
    Motorola Solutions website, 2009-04-07, retrieved on September 26, 2011
    ^ Reardon, M.: "As losses return, Motorola delays its split"
     
    , "CNET News", 2008-10-30, retrieved on April 26, 2009
    ^ "Motorola Mobility, Inc. – Media Center – Press Releases – Motorola Targets First Quarter 2011 to Separate into Two Independent, Publicly Traded Companies"
     
    . Mediacenter.motorola.com. February 11, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ Balazs, Diana (May 9, 2008). "The Arizona Republic Retrieved May 15, 2008"
     
    . Azcentral.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
    ^ a b "Greenpeace – Guide to Greener Electronics"
     
    . Greenpeace International. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola – Material content"
     
    . Motorola. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
    ^ "Motorola – Energy efficiency"
     
    . Motorola. Retrieved January 12, 2011.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/09/14/for-google-the-motorola-deal-was-all-about-the-patents-at-first/

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http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1907159,00.html
Bulky design aside, the brick was a defining achievement for Mitchell, a rough-and-tumble manager whose interest in technology was kindled by the Erector set he had received as a child. The seminal phone wasn't a hit, but it placed Motorola at the forefront of the cell-phone revolution.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC
The first cellular phone was the culmination of efforts begun at Bell Labs, which first proposed the idea of a cellular system in 1947, and continued to petition the FCC for channels through the 1950s and 1960s, and research conducted at Motorola. In 1960, John F. Mitchell, an electrical engineer who graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology, became Motorola's chief engineer for its mobile communication products. Mitchell oversaw the development and marketing of the first pager to use transistors.

Motorola had long produced mobile telephones for automobiles, that were large and heavy and consumed too much power to allow their use without the automobile's engine running. Mitchell's team developed portable cellular telephony, and Mitchell was among the Motorola employees granted a patent for this work in 1973; the first call on the prototype was completed, reportedly, to a wrong number.[2][3] While Motorola was developing the cellular phone itself, during 1968-1983, Bell Labs worked on the system called AMPS, which became the first cellular network in the U.S. Motorola and others designed cell phones for that and other cellular systems. Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola led a team that produced the DynaTAC8000x, first commercially available cellular phone small enough to be easily carried, and made the first phone call from it. The DynaTAC's retail price, $3,995 ($9322 in present-day terms[4]), ensured that it would not become a mass-market item; by 1998, when Mitchell retired, cellphones and associated services made up two thirds of Motorola's $30 billion in revenue.[5]

On October 13, 1983, Bob Barnett, former president of Ameritech Mobile Communications placed the first commercial wireless call on a DynaTAC from inside a Chrysler convertible to the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell who was in Germany for the event. The call, made at Soldier Field in Chicago, is considered by many as a major turning point in communications. Later Richard Frenkiel, the head of system development at Bell Laboratories, said about the DynaTAC: "It was a real triumph; a great breakthrough."[6]



http://zomobo.net/brick-phone

http://gamewyrm.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/
The Motorola DynaTAC8000X was the first true cell phone created. Although it was an important step and a precursor to the cell phones we have today, it just didn’t convey true convenience. Its mammoth size was actually the least of its issues when you consider a short battery life for actual talk time (although it did have a decent ‘standby’ battery)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC
    ^ “Motorola DynaTAC 8000x”. Retro Brick. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
    ^ Motorola Executive Helped Spur Cellular Revolution, Oversaw Ill-fated Iridium Project, Wall Street Journal, Remembrances, June 20–21, 2009, p. A10
    ^ Lane, Clare (June 17, 2009). “John F. Mitchell, 1928-2009: Was president of Motorola from 1980 to ’95?. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 5 2011.
    ^ Staff. Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2012. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
    ^ John F. Mitchell, Time Magazine Milestones section, July 6, 2009, p.17
    ^ Oehmke, Ted (January 6, 2000). “Cell Phones Ruin the Opera? Meet the Culprit”. The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
    ^ “20th Anniversary of the World’s First Commercial Cellular Phone”. Motorola. Retrieved 2007-06-07.


http://www.answers.com/topic/motorola

***********************

http://ezinearticles.com/?When-Was-the-First-Mobile-Phone-Invented?&id=5352750

Dr. Martin Cooper is credited with the creation of the first not for vehicle use handheld portable phone. His boss at Motorola John F. Mitchell is also given credit in assistance, and his contribution is pushing the company to make handheld device small enough to be used practically. There was a tremendously close portable phone development race between Motorola and Bell Labs, and actually, Dr. Cooper made the first call to Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell labs.

http://www.motorolasolutions.com/web/Business/Corporate/About/History/_docs/1979_Motorola_Annual_Report.pdf

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f University of Limerick Foundation Memorial for John Francis Mitchell - Trustee
     
    (a): (b): "During his 45-year career, Mitchell shaped the creation of nearly all of the wireless communications industries in the latter half of the 20th century." (c) "Blackhawks Water Polo Team," (d): "lifeguarding," (e): "shaped the creation of nearly all of the wireless communications industries" (f): his wife of 68 years
  2. ^ a b c d e f John Francis Mitchell Obituary: (a): "During his 45-year career, Mitchell shaped the creation of nearly all of the wireless communications industries in the latter half of the 20th century." (b): (e): the birth of the cell phone industry - "the cell phone industry was born" (c): Appointed by Reagan to National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
     
    by Jennifer Erikson, Motorola Spokesperson, date=June 20-21, 2009, Chicago Tribune
  3. ^ William & Bridie Mitchell, parents of John F. Mitchell
     
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j John Francis Mitchell Retirement-(a):"the son of Irish Immigrants," (b):"retiring in 1998 as
     
    Vice Chairman," (c): "-John F. Mitchell charted the development of the revolutionary first generation of cellphones, popular for their forward-looking technology but unaffectionately nicknamed "boot" for their size and heft, and later with the trimmed down version - referred to as "the brick"," (d):"-son of an Irish born Chicago Patrolman." (e):"John Francis Mitchell chief engineer", (f): "One early hit was the first transistorized pager," (g):"Mitchell pushed hard." (h): "John Francis Mitchell delayed his retirement to raise another $1.59 billion for Iridium." (i): "Iridium was a "triumph of technology over business," said Howard Anderson, Professor MIT" (j): "Mitchell was pleased to watch Iridium.....go on to perform as advertised in high stress situations...war zones....natural disasters." by Stephen Miller, June 20-21, 2009, The Wall Street Journal
  5. ^ a b c "The John Mitchell Quality Tester"
     
    . Chicago Tribune. June 14, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i John F. Mitchell, Longtime Motorola Leader: (a): (h):"Do it the engineering way, the proper way" (b): "Mitchell was very intelligent..creative..original..just a very good guy." (c): "John F. Mitchell had a reputation of being frugal," (d): "It was not about him or his perks, but rather the Team, " (e): "Colleagues stood in awe of his brilliance and his stand up management style." (f): Summary of Motorola Career. (g): John F. Mitchell, Longtime Motorola Leader - "You couldn't put one over on John," (i): John F. Mitchell, Longtime Motorola Leader, "kept everyone on their toes." by Sandra Guy, Chicago Sun-Times, July 2, 2009
     
  7. ^ a b c Tennant, Geoff (2001). SIX SIGMA: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services - Quality Returns to America
     
    . Gower Publishing, Ltd.. p. 6. ISBN 0566083744. Quality Returns to America
  8. ^ a b c d e Commencement Awards & Notes
     
    Illinois Institute of Technology IIT, dated 1995, - (a): "led the evolution of the first generation of cell phones, a field that Motorola would dominate for years." (b): Awards for John F. Mitchell. (c): Posthumous Award 2010.(d): "led the evolution of the first generation of cell phones, a field that Motorola would dominate for years" (e): the first cell phone was affectionately known as the Brick
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Time Magazine Memorial John F. Mitchell
     
    by Frances Romero, dated July 6, 2009, Time Magazine, (a):-60% of the world's population would use mobile phones just a quarter-century after his (Mitchell's) brainchild in 1983. (b): (c): (d): (i): "comments on early life in last paragraph - rough and tumble, erector set". (e): "technical specs of DynaTAC". (f): vision, "virtually anyone". (g): "60% of the world" - unprecendented success of the cell phone, $20 billion in sales. (h): "Motorola at the forefront of...revolution".
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Comments by Albert (Jim) Mikulski, co-inventor of first cell phone, June 6, 2009,
     
    Chicago Tribune (a):"Mitchell known as a hands on manager" (b): (c): (e): (f): (g): "willing to give credit to those who worked in the trenches." (c): (d): "I remember his delegating his task as...GM to work in the Applied Research Lab and in give and take with the engineers as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) docket 18262 that would shape Motorola's future...in the 1970s." (h): Mitchell team member, (i) patent holder
  11. ^ a b John F. Mitchell, a lilting tenor voice
     
  12. ^ Illinois Institute Technology & Motorola Reception Honoring John F. Mitchell
     
    on YouTube
  13. ^ a b "Professor Noel Mulcahy, Killaloe"
     
    . Chicago Tribune Comments on Mitchell's Singing. June 16, 2009.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h John F. Mitchell, 1928-2009: (a): Mitchell hands on, rough and tumble, concerned for co-workers; (b): much-admired boss whose well-crafted memos were treasured by employees. (c): "People meant more to him than any piece of technology." (d):"It was all about the team, and not Mitchell;" (e): (f): "Competition improves quality," (g):"Mitchell's musical side came out theatrically on trips to Ireland." (h): ".....Tin Whistle, " by Clare Lane, June 17, 2009,
     
    Chicago Tribune, accessdate=December 5 2011
  15. ^ John Mitchell Genealogy and Sligo Poems
     
    by Seosamh Ó Bróithe, July 2, 2009
  16. ^ a b The Mitchell Brothers 2005, Bill, John, Jay and Ed
     
  17. ^ insert genealogy link
  18. ^ "Ed Mitchell coaching Blackhawk Park Water Polo"
     
    . Chicago Tribune. June 16, 2009.
  19. ^ a b Norm Halvorsen on John F. Mitchell; water polo and the bakery machine
     
  20. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Catholic_League,
  21. ^ Galvin on Mitchell: John F. Mitchell, a consummate thinker and visionary
     
    , by Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times, April 3, 2003
  22. ^ a b Bob Becknell on John F. Mitchell: "..Mitchell part of Management Tri-part; ..made things happen;..the ultimate problem solver; ..expert on operations"
     
  23. ^ a b c d e "J.F.Mitchell Biography"
     
    . The Purple & White Iowa Wesleyan College - Iowa Wesleyan College, a: b: numerous reference herein, c: Mitchell recognized as an expert on world wide marketing. d: member of the Presidents Council of the American Lung Association, e: Mitchell as an expert on Corporate Finance and Global Marketing. f: John Francis Mitchell, Doctor of Business Administration, IWC, May 18, 1983. May 18,1985.
  24. ^ a b c d "J.F.Mitchell Biography"
     
    . IIT - Illinois Institute of Technology, numerous references herein; e: Mitchell granted an honorary doctorate of Humane letters & Science . 2010.
  25. ^ a b "Details on the original DynaTAC"
     
  26. ^ a b Patent for the First Cell Phone System (Radio Telephone System)
     
    Announced April 3, 1973.
  27. ^ a b c From Brick to Slick; John F. Mitchell in NYC on April 3, 1973 at Patent Office on announcement of the DynaTAC cell phone
     
    , by Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times, April 3, 2003
  28. ^ a b c Cell Phones, From Brick to Slick:
     
    (a): "invented...marketed the first transistorized pager," (b): large 45 pound affairs...hard wired...lots of trunk space, (c): (d): (e): . by Howard Wolinksky, date=April 3, 2003, Chicago Sun-Times-pages 57-61
  29. ^ Portable technologies thrust Mitchell & Motorola into the path of the powerful AT&T juggernaut
     
    , by Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times, April 3, 2003
  30. ^ a b c Discontinuance of Product Line, Business Case Study Cell Phone,
     
    Macher, Jeffrey and Richman, Barak D., Organizational Responses to Discontinuous Innovation: A Case Study Approach. International Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. VII, No. 1, March 2004. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=485282
     
  31. ^ The Motorola Cell Phone Concept
     
    Chuck Sengstock, David Weisz, Ken Swoyer
  32. ^ John F. Mitchell mentored Martin Cooper
     
    , June 13, 2009, Chicago Tribune
  33. ^ John F. Mitchell mentored Martin Cooper
     
    , April 2, 2003, by Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times
  34. ^ a b c The First Cell Phone April 3, 1973, Sparked a Revolution Changing the Way People Communicate,
     
    by Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times, April 3, 2003
  35. ^ IIT Motorola Reception Honoring John F. Mitchell
     
    on YouTube
  36. ^ "Motorola Announcement DynaTAC Portable Radio Telephone System"
     
    . Motorola - Official Announcement of the DynaTAC Portable Radio Cell Phone. 1973.
  37. ^ President Reagan requests the FCC to approve the Motorola Cell Phone
     
    , by Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times, April 3, 2003
  38. ^ "Cell Phones Ruin the Opera? Meet the Culprit"
     
    The New York Times. by Ted Oehmke,date=January 6, 2000, accessdate=2009-05-26
  39. ^ "Facts about Google’s acquisition of Motorola"
     
  40. ^ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903639404576518493092643006.html
     
    "Google, Motorola and the Patent Wars"
  41. ^ insert 20th anniversary article from motorola
  42. ^ a b Definition of Six-Sigma from the 1990s per MyAnswer.com
     
    Describes the 60 years of quality assurance methodologies used at Motorola including Quality Control, TQM, Zero Defects based on work of such as Shewhart, Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Taguchi and others
  43. ^ Logothetis, N., 1990, A Perspective on Shainin’s Approach to Experimental Design for Quality Improvement, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, p. 197
  44. ^ a b c d e f g Jack Germain & Art Sundry Key Movers in Creation of Motorola's Six Sigma Culture
     
    Six Sigma at Motorola
     
    by Robert Knight, senior rewrite editor, City News Bureau, Chicago, January 1995, IPO Issue 29 (Illinois Periodicals Online)
  45. ^ "New Six Sigma®: A Leader's Guide to Achieving Rapid Business Improvement and Sustainable Results: Art Sundry shouted '"Our Quality Stinks"'"
     
    . Retrieved March 6, 2012, By: Matt Barney; Tom McCarty, Publisher: Prentice Hall, Pub. Date: December 19, 2002, Print ISBN-10: 0-13-101399-8, Print ISBN-13: 978-0-13-101399-5, Pages in Print Edition: 128.
  46. ^ U.S. Patent 3,126,514 for Noise Reducing system with Jack Germain, October 13, 1961.
     
  47. ^ Six-Sigma: Art Sundry & John F. Mitchell
     
  48. ^ a b c d "A Brief History of Six Sigma: Art Sundry applied statistical methods to the Motorola Pager business"
     
    . Retrieved March 5, 2012, Process Improvement Essentials, By: James R. Peresse, PhD, Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Pub. Date: September 14, 2006, Print ISBN-13: 978-0-596-10217-3, Print ISBN-10: 0-596-10217-8, Pages in Print Edition: 352; A Brief History of Six Sigma, pages 40+, 253+, 333.
  49. ^ "New Six Sigma®: A Leader's Guide to Achieving Rapid Business Improvement and Sustainable Results: Art Sundry shouted '"Our Quality Stinks"'"
     
    . Retrieved March 5, 2012, By: Matt Barney; Tom McCarty, Publisher: Prentice Hall, Pub. Date: December 19, 2002, Print ISBN-10: 0-13-101399-8, Print ISBN-13: 978-0-13-101399-5, Pages in Print Edition: 128
  50. ^ Six Sigma Statistical Approach (1)
     
    on YouTube
  51. ^ Schroeder, Richard A.; MIKEL PHD HARRY (2006). Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World's Top Corporations. Sydney: Currency. p. 9. ISBN 0-385-49438-6.
  52. ^ Bill Smith, Motorola Engineer, inducted into the Six Sigma Hall of Fame
     
  53. ^ Motorola University and the founding of Six Sigma
     
  54. ^ Bill Smith Remembered as the Father of Six Sigma
     
  55. ^ Six Sigma Graph developed by Bill Smith and patented by Motorola
     
  56. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Baldrige_National_Quality_Award#Baldrige_Award_Recipients
  57. ^ "Six Sigma: Where is it now?"
     
    . Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  58. ^ a b c Indirect Benefits of Iridium Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation/David I. Cleland, Lewis R. Ireland.-5th Edition, ISBN 0-07-147160, 2006, page 61, Chapter 3.6: Project Life Cycles and Uncertainty.
     
    (a): "More than 25,000 complex design elements have come forth..." (b): "Even if the project has less than hoped for success, it has yielded valuable indirect benefits, such as enhanced technology, greater attention to satellite technology, and a modern production facility that can be used for other satellite systems."
  59. ^ "About Motorola University"
     
    . Archived from the original
     
    on December 22, 2005. Retrieved January 28, 2006.
  60. ^ "1022 on line books written about Six Sigma"
     
    . Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  61. ^ launch campaign, citation available from Rise and Fall and Rise of Iridium
  62. ^ ciation from "rise and fall and rise"
  63. ^ http://investor.iridium.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=581125
     
  64. ^ JFM & Jelly Beans & Ronald Reagan POTUS; jfm archives
     
  65. ^ Iridium Backgrounder
     
    , Vision for Global Radio Cellular System. by Lawrence Moore & Andrew Peed, Motorola, August 2, 1990]
  66. ^ How Iridium Started:
     
    excerpt from: Sidney Finkelstein and Shade H. Sanford, adapted from Organizational Dynamics, 29 (2):138-148. Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
  67. ^ a b c d Did Motorola Fail? Absolutely Not!
     
    (a): "Galvin: Iridium the eight wonder of the world." (b): "..prime contractor to build the 288 satellite "internet in the sky dubbed teledesic" (c): 1000 patents. (d): "overcame NASA-level technical problems." Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling, Tenth Edition, Harold Kerzner, Publisher John Wiley & Sons, 23 March 2009, Insert Date, 7 April 2010, Chapter 25, The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Iridium, A Project Management Perspective, 25.22 The Definition of Failure, October 1999.]
  68. ^ a b c d e f g h The Rise & Fall of Iridium, Learning From Corporate Mistakes - (a): "Within months of its announcement, Iridium stock price tripled, (b): "the technology was breathtakingly elegant and innovative." (c): "Declared on of the 20 worst bankruptcies of all time." (d): "1000s of articles have been written on Iridium," (e): analyst #1:"what it looks like now is a multi-billion-dollar science project;" analyst #2:"Iridium is likely to some of the most expensive space debris ever," (f): (g): "for its contribution of $400 million,...Iridium agreed to $6.6 billion in satellite...design, launch and operations,....as well as more than 1000 patents." (h): "in 1998 Motorola experienced a 50% decline in share price."Sidney Finkelstein and Shade H. Sanford, adapted from Organizational Dynamics, 29 (2):138-148. Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
     
  69. ^ Ranked Search Engines: Iridium does not appear on any of the big financial failure lists
     
  70. ^ "Top Bankruptcies of All Time: Iridium-a fraction of Big Bankruptcies" Areppim: Information, Pure and Simple
     
  71. ^ a b Iridium Brought Motorola Back to Earth by Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times, April 3, 2003
     
    "IRIDIUM was a noble quest to bring telecommunications to the entire world. Nobody tried it before, or thought it possible. Galvin said Motorola was caught flat-footed by the success cell phones would have from the time Iridium started to the time the project was live. "This is my fault," Galvin insisted. "If John Mitchell wants to take some credit for being wrong, he shouldn't. Or Bill Weisz. Or the men down in Phoenix."
  72. ^ "more than 100 on line books written about Iridium"
     
    . Retrieved March 5, 2012. at least 100 books appear on-line on Safari On Line, more than half written since 2009.
  73. ^ Motorola Protected Its Financial Exposure to Iridium. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling, Tenth Edition, Harold Kerzner, Publisher John Wiley & Sons, 23 March 2009, Insert Date, 7 April 2010, Chapter 25, The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Iridium, A Project Management Perspective, 25.22 The Definition of Failure, October 1999.
     
  74. ^ a b Did Motorola Lose Money on Iridium? Despite the Stunning Failure, Motorola Wins, "These numbers don't tell the whole story," by Ida Picker, The Seattle Times, 1999.
     
    Seattle Times on-line copy of article
     
  75. ^ insert 2 or 3 additional links on contrarian articles if available
  76. ^ [http://www.wisegeek.com/how-many-satellites-are-orbiting-the-earth.htm
     
    About 3000 satellites circling the earth as of March 2012
  77. ^ a b c d e The Rise & Fall & Rise of Iridium
     
    , (a): emerged from bankruptcy quickly (b): iridium comsats talk to each other, any point to any point guaranteed. (c): Salvation in the Pentagon, unique battlefield resource, deployed successfully in Iraq and Afghanistan. (d): saves lives, by Craig Mellow, Air & Space magazine, September 2004.
  78. ^ profitably of iridium[1]
     
  79. ^ http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/383-iridium-satellite-global-network.html
     
  80. ^ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/iridium-to-revolutionize-global-air-traffic-surveillance-with-the-launch-of-aireonsm-2012-06-19
     
  81. ^ a b [Improving DOD Awareness[2]
     
    ]
  82. ^ a b [NSA certifies Iridium Security Module [3]
     
    ]
  83. ^ How satellite technology helps society St. Mary Workshop, High School Physics
     
  84. ^ military
  85. ^ Case Study, Town of Seattle, WA (1) [4]
     
  86. ^ Case Study. Town of Seattle, WA (2)[5]
     
  87. ^ a b citations from Project Management book and other sources
  88. ^ Letter to Editor, WSJ,
     
    By Kevin Mitchell, 2009
  89. ^ "Iowa Weslyan College Commencement Address"
     
    . May 18,1985 - Mitchell known as an expert on fiscal policy; Purple & White, Iowa Wesleyan College.
  90. ^ a b "Jimmy Deenihan MP, Kerry"
     
    . Chicago Tribune a:Comments on Mitchell's Philanthropic Work with University of Limerick Foundation, b:helping the Irish people. June 16, 2009.
  91. ^ http://www.ulfoundation.com/news/john-mitchell-1928-2009/
     
  92. ^ http://www.brophy.net/PivotX/images/univoflimericksearchjfm.jpg
     
    Search ULFoundation John Mitchell
  93. ^ "John Francis Mitchell Obituary"
     
    . Chicago Tribune-The expansion of the Universality of Limerick. June 19, 2009.
  94. ^ "IIT Commencement Award notes"
     
    . IIT - Mitchell granted an honorary doctorate of Humane letters & Science. 1995.
  95. ^ "IWC Commencement Award"
     
    . May 18,1985, - Mitchell granted an honorary doctorate of business administration. Purple & White, Iowa Wesleyan College.
  96. ^ John Francis Mitchell, Doctor of Business Administration,
     
    IWC, May 18, 1983
  97. ^ "John Francis Mitchell Honorary Graduate Dublin City University (Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath)"
     
    .
  98. ^ John Francis Mitchell, Ton Kobrinetz, Marty Cooper
     
    , Chicago Sun-Times-Innovation Awards,.
  99. ^ insert link on IIT site of vips and notables; create new category for business leaders in wiki; also link back to Bob Galvin for Six Sigma}
  100. ^ {citation correction: need to come back to correct wiki Radiotelephone to include Mitchell} (the cell phone){correct in wiki Mobile phone to include Mitchell}
  101. ^ Letter to Middle Schooler, granddaughter of Chuck Lynk, co-inventor of cell phone
     
    , by James J. Mikulski, co-inventor of first first cell phone April, 3, 1973
  102. ^ Co-inventor, First Cell Phone, J.J.Mikulski
     
  103. ^ need a companion reference here
  104. ^ From Brick to Slick - Cover Chicago Sun-Times April 3, 2003
     
    , Mitchell's son, Kevin, led the development of the Slim Line
  105. ^ citations needed from IDA - Irish Industrial Authority