A Day to Remember
On August 9, 1976, I began my professional career at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey. Bell Labs, as it was called, was probably the best place in the world for an electrical engineer to begin a career. The company’s scientists and engineers created some of the greatest inventions of the 20th Century. The transistor, the data modem, the communications satellite, the C Programming Language, the Unix computer operating system, the Big Bang theory – these are but a few of the momentous innovations produced at Bell Labs. Read the book “The Idea Factory” by Jon Gertner – it will give you an idea of the enormous impact this organization had, and is still having, on our world.
(Almost) Home Again
Bell Labs was a career destination for many people. Not for me. I went there with one clear purpose: to gain expertise and contacts to start my own business. I intended to stay at Bell Labs for only one or two years before returning home to Flint. It almost happened.
In 1978, I visited Hurley Hospital in Flint with a proposal that I thought would be the beach head for a successful technology career in Michigan. I proposed to Hurley that they hire me to develop and run a biomedical instrumentation lab for them. Hurley had no such resource. It was becoming increasingly important that they have the capability to specify, evaluate, maintain, and deploy the kind of biomedical instruments that were coming, like a huge tidal wave, into the medical industry. I delivered my proposal to the Hurley leadership and then returned to New Jersey, confident that I would be called upon to implement my proposal.
The response from Hurley: crickets.
Some time later, I learned through unofficial channels that the folks at Hurley were looking for someone to develop the capabilities outlined in my proposal. I never received an official response.
Make a New Plan
Things worked out for the best. In 1980, after just four years at Bell Labs, I gained promotion to Group Supervisor. The above picture is from the article in the Bell Labs News that announced my promotion. Prior to my promotion, I had met the two young black engineers who would later become my tech company co-founders. In 1981, I convinced them to come and work with me in my basement on a new telecommunications instrumentation company. They agreed to join me, and the rest is history. It’s our little corner of history, at least.
I arrived in New Jersey in 1976 as a twenty-three year old with a master’s degree in electrical engineering. I absolutely loved Bell Labs, but I hated New Jersey. Over time, as I adapted to the area and made friends, started a family, and got involved in the local culture, I grew to love the place. So much so that when I finally did leave New Jersey and return to Michigan in 2007, I felt more than a tinge of regret. That regret was overcome by coming “home” with my wife Kishna, by the birth of our daughter Nadiyah, and by the joyous experiences we shared with my mother in her final years.
Excavating Emotions – The Letter
After my mother died, I found several of the letters I had written to her during my early days in New Jersey. Those were the days before personal computers, when we literally did write letters. I’ve shared an excerpt from one of those letters below. I wrote the letter exactly two months after starting at Bell Labs. If you can decipher my handwriting, you can read my disdain for New Jersey, my desire to return home, and my promise to my mother that “you needn’t worry about making it after you retire.”
Today is the 10th of August, one day after the anniversary. However, it feels more like the actual day because today is Monday. My Bell Labs starting date, August 9, 1976, was a Monday.
Womb to Tomb
It is hard to believe that so many years have passed since the start of my professional career. I feel blessed to still feel the energy, the curiosity, and the desire to change the world that I felt back then. The Rev. Dr. Donald Warner, one of my New Jersey mentors, often told me that the struggle to build a better world is “womb to tomb.” I now realize more than ever the truth in that statement.
Please join me in a virtual toast to this anniversary. I plan to enjoy a real toast tonight.
David
Note: You can read much more about my transition to New Jersey and Bell Labs in my book, “Proving Ground: A Memoir.” Check out “Part 3: New Jersey.”
8 thoughts on “Fifty Years Ago Today – A Reflection”
David
I remember it like yesterday! I am grateful for the many years we worked together in Holmdel. As always you were full of zeal and ideas. A shining light for many. I’m a witness to your many accomplishments in life. Keep on dreaming and sharing your vision.
Pat, I am so glad that we stay connected so many years after our Bell Labs days. Your work has been inspiring to me – YOU are the shining light.
David, you did it! You had a vision, a dream a plan, a I want more than this and persevered. When doubters and haters stood by, you did it!! Congratulations and many more blessings as your legacy continues through your children and Nadiyah on her way to Harvard. You make Flint proud and you always continue to give back to the community and the youth, our future!! Awesomeness🤗
Thanks Linnette. Still enjoying the adventure, and still remembering those pleasant bike visits over to Dartmouth Street! Be seeing you around town.
This is the David I’ve known since kindergarten, through high school Science Fairs and all the way to new Jersey. I got in my 1977 Ford Thunderbird and drove to New Jersey like it was nothing, for your wedding, listening to Minnie Ripperton and the Emotions all the way. The hood alone on that car was so long it could have flown me there with a good wind under or behind it. I remember you came to hang out one weekend at Michigan State and I had a paper to write and you said write it on the cruise missile crisis I said I don’t want to write about that and you wrote the paper for me. Of course I made that paper my own in a rewrite (lol), but it was a great foundation and it got me started on a topic I never would have thought of writing about. You had such varied interests. Your trombone, my cello. Your mom’s recipes, my trying to live up to them. Every time I looked up, you were moving up, and doing more and more. I knew you’d reinvent the world. What a family you created! Just look at those successful, bright kids. Of course a good woman behind you played a great part in your success; from Mabes to Kishna! You know that’s right! Even though you didn’t chose to become a Spartan, you still did OK. Lol. Just think, had you chose to wear green and white, you could’ve invented some computerized farming equipment or cloned some oxen, or even two Magic Johnsons! We all love you David. Congratulations on all your successes. There’s truly no one on earth like you. Your family struck it rich with you…literally! Gimme that car when you’re done with it, any of them. Best Wishes for the future. Sincerely, Karen “No, Karen can’t come out to play” McDonald. Big 6’3″ Daddy Isaac McDonald.
Karen, you have been inspiring me since grade school. Your academic prowess, prodigious cello-playing, exemplary handwriting, and of course beauty and grace. No wonder Ike guarded your house like a pit bull! Glad we are still enjoying friendship to this day. That anniversary is coming up on 70 years!
Hi David, Doug Bredow here. We played basketball together when I was a senior and you were a junior. I have enjoyed reading your posts, especially the one that had the link to your interview that described how the city of Flint provided opportunitites for all back in the 60’s and 70’s.
I have been very blessded in my life, a beautiful wife Claudia, 2 sons and a daughter and 7 grandchildren, 10 dogs over the 51 years we have been together, koi fish, and turtles. I had a career in Sales and Marketing with Kraft/General Foods, moved 8 times, mostly west coast except for 4 years in CT. Two of those years my office was in Clifton NJ. After 25 years in Seattle we now live in AZ. If you ever get a inkling, give me a call. Would love to discuss some old times. A fellow Indian, Doug.bredow@gmail.com 253.653.6339
Hey Doug – great to hear from you and to know that you are doing so well. I remember our basketball experience fondly, especially my junior year. We didn’t do so well after you left! Still admire Cliff Turner to this day, though. All the best to you. I’m definitely open for that catch-up call, or even adult beverage if our paths cross.