Jack M. Manley

Biography

Jack M. Manely was born on March 9, 1909 in Farmington, Missouri. He received his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri in 1930 and later studied Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University. He joined Bell Laboratories' Research Department in New Jersey as a member of the Technical Staff in 1930 to work in the area of transmission research. He was. first concerned with theoretical and experimental studies of electrical circuits. The Manley-Rowe relations, which describe the power flows at different frequencies in certain nonlinear circuit elements and distributed media resulted from his collaborative work with Harrison Rowe. These relations have yielded understanding of the general performance limitations of a wide variety of communication devices, and have been widely referenced in the technical literature.

A few years were spent in adapting nonlinear coils to generate very high voltage pulses for use in radar transmitters. He later worked with new multiplex methods for communication systems, including early research work on Pulse Code Modulation. Afterward, he was engaged in transmission-line research, then in study of noise problems in digital transmission systems. During his last several years at Bell Labs he was studying the use of negative impedances in transmission lines.

After 44 years, Jack Manley retired as a supervisor from Bell Laboratories in 1974 and was appointed a Visiting Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He teaches one class, an experimental section on linear system analysis for juniors.

Professor Manley held six patents and is the author of a dozen published papers on circuits and transmission systems, and has presented invited lectures on pulse code modulation synchronizing and on negative resistance in transmission lines. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the honor societies, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu and Pi Mu Epsilon.

A resident of Madison, Wisconsin, Jack Manely sings in the choir at the First Congregational Church. He lists music and photography as his leisure activities, but says he spends much of his time rewriting the college course he teaches. He has one son, David, who lives in New Jersey.