John Bayfield MacNeill

Biography

John Bayfield MacNeill was born on June 21, 1888, in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1913. His first assignment with the Westinghouse Corporation was that of engineer on circuit breaker design from 1913 to 1918, and in the latter year he was placed in charge of the circuit breaker design section, becoming manager of the department in 1928. He was made general manager of the distribution engineering department in 1933 and manager of the New England engineering department in 1935. Later in 1935 he became manager of the switchgear engineering department and in 1944 manager of the switchgear and control division. Under Mr. MacNeill's supervision 1,500,000 kva indoor powerhouse circuit breakers were developed, and the commercial application of the de-ion principle was accomplished.

John MacNeill represented the National Electrical Manufacturers Association at the World Power Conference in Berlin, Germany, in 1930. He also served on the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE, now IEEE) committee on power transmission and distribution from 1933 to 1935, and for many years on the committee on protective devices of which he was chairman for 1941-44. More than two dozen patents were issued in his name. He was awarded the AIEE Lamme Medal in 1946 for "his foresight, leadership, and creative contribution in the development of switching equipment."