John Kenneth Hilliard (October 1901 – March 21, 1989) was an American acoustical and electrical engineer who pioneered a number of important loudspeaker concepts and designs.

He designed movie theater sound systems, and he worked on radar as well as submarine detection equipment during World War II.

Having left his Masters studies behind in Minnesota, Hilliard, not yet 28 years old, supervised all sound recording for Coquette, UA's first talking motion picture.

Western Electric provided recording equipment, but the specific techniques for achieving the best sound on film had to be developed by hard work and imagination.

While at MGM, Hilliard was asked by Gordon Mitchell to chair the Motion Picture Research Council's sound committee.

Later, with Harry Kimball, he helped develop the 1938 "Academy Curve", a standard filter that attenuated recorded noise above 2,000 Hz while retaining prominent voice reproduction characteristics.

[5] Hilliard's continued contact with Lansing and Blackburn led to a conversation about the poor state of loudspeakers in movie theaters.

In 1942 when the United States was preparing to fight a long, technically challenging war, Hilliard left MGM to join his friend Blackburn who had begun research for Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to work on radar development for U.S. military applications.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences immediately began testing its sonic characteristics; they made it the movie theater industry-standard in 1955.

[8] In 1946, Hilliard took over as vice president of engineering due to Jim Lansing's leaving Altec to start a new enterprise which would become JBL.

[1] He helped develop an air-driven noise generator that produced 10,000 acoustic watts and was driven by a 300 horsepower (220 kW) diesel engine.

He helped NASA with voice communication equipment including long lines between Cape Canaveral and Houston as well as assisting the Air Force with their worldwide telephone system.