Dr. James West:

complete bio | audio | researcher

 James E. West, co-inventor of the electret microphone used in most telephones, tape recorders and other devices, joined the faculty of the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in 2002 . He is serving as a research professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering, while also breaking down racial barriers in the student body and faculty at Hopkins.

After more than forty years as a researcher, West retired from Bell Labs and decided to pursue a career in academics. “I’d had a great life in research,” he said.
“I discovered that Johns Hopkins is a lot like Bell Labs, where the doors were always open and we were free to collaborate with researchers in other disciplines.”

Jim West