Raymond Waibel Ketchledge (December 8, 1919 – October 23, 1987)[1][2] was an Americanengineer, known for his contributions to the first computerizedtelephone switching control systems.
Born inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania,[3] Ketchledge married Lois Jane Quackenbush. He earned aB.Sc. andM.Sc. (1942) inelectrical engineering from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology before joiningBell Labs where he stayed for his whole professional career (1942–1982).
At Bell Labs he first worked on theMark 24 FIDO Torpedo used inWorld War II, then took part in developing the first underwaterrepeater systems and theL3 coaxial carrier forTransatlantic telephone cable systems (1946–1954), before becoming the leader of theSwitching systems development group (1956). This brought him fame due to the pioneering work on applyingstored program architecture totelephone switching systems. Ketchledge oversaw the installation project for the first1ESS switch inSuccasunna (1965).
Following this he directed theIndian Hill laboratories ofNaperville, Illinois (1966–1975), before returning to New Jersey where he oversaw theOcean systems research division inWhippany, New Jersey, until his retirement. He held sixty patents in diverse areas, including thirty-one in switching systems.
He died ofcancer at his home inEnglewood, Florida, on October 23, 1987.
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| Preceded by (first) | IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal 1976 | Succeeded by |