[3] In 1950, he was awarded the IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute for recognition of his role in technology leadership.

Historian Leonard S. Reich (1985) argues that in the early 1900s, AT&T and other companies established research labs as a defensive measure against competitors threatening their core businesses.

Despite AT&T's very large investment in its telephone system, it faced fierce competition from smaller regional firms.

To maintain dominance, AT&T concentrated on creating a nationwide telephone system that provided good technology and the widest possible long-distance service.

This research became even more pressing when the engineers realized that the device would also be pivotal for radio development, which had the potential to render wired communication obsolete.