Career of the medalist

STRICTLY SPEAKING in the American tradition has been the rise of Mervin J. Kelly from a school principal´s son to the chairmanship of the board of the world-famous Bell Telephone Laboratories. The secret of his career resides in his inventive genius, perseverance, and keen foresight. Recognized for his character and ability, and honored by his contemporaries throughout his eventful career, few men, if any, have contributed more to the progress of the world than has Mervin J. Kelly, and fewer still have lived to see such full fruition of their ideas and endeavor. He is one of the group of great electrical engineers. Such men as he come into the world but rarely. Their composition requires the happy combination of many qualities: energy, courage, vision, the ability to seize upon essentials, the inventive spark, and the power of influencing the minds of other men. This country has been fortunate in the production of a few such geniuses, scientists, and engineers, who have been at the root and basis of limitless changes.