Obituary: James McKenna

By William A. Massey

James McKenna, an esteemed mathematician and SIAM Fellow, passed away on February 29, 2020. He was 90 years old. Jim, as he preferred to be called, was born in 1929. After displaying an interest in science at a young age, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Jim next became a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Edinburgh; this was followed by a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force, during which he received his master’s degree from MIT. He then pursued a Ph.D. in mathematics at Princeton University.

During his time at Princeton, Jim held a Bell Laboratories Fellowship. Upon earning his Ph.D., he joined Bell Telephone Laboratories as a member of technical staff in the Mathematics and Statistics Research Center. After multiple positions and nearly 30 years at Bell Labs, Jim became the executive director of the Systems Principles Research Department at Bellcore. Upon retiring from Bellcore, he spent 13 years as a Research Institute for Scientists Emeriti (RISE) Fellow at Drew University. Jim was recognized as a SIAM fellow in 2011 “for mathematical contributions to the underpinnings of telecommunications products and his support of SIAM.” He was also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

My first encounter with Jim was in the spring of 1977. I was a senior mathematics major at Princeton University and had applied to a Bell Labs Cooperative Research Fellowship Program for Minorities (CRFP). Jim invited me to visit the Mathematical Sciences Research Center at Bell Labs during my CRFP interview.

Up until that point, I had been trained in commutative algebra and number theory. Jim introduced me to the world of applied mathematics; we hit it off well and he became my official CRFP mentor. During the summer of 1977, he gave me the opportunity to work at Bell Labs with one of his colleagues, John Morrison. By the end of that summer, I had completed my first research paper with John on a problem in queueing theory. This led to my first publication in the 1978 issue of the Bell Labs Technical Journal.

In the fall of 1977, I headed to graduate school at Stanford University’s Department of Mathematics. Jim was always available for a phone conversation and even visited me several times to see how things were going on campus. While I was at Stanford, he facilitated two additional summer sessions for me at Bell Labs. Finally, in the spring of 1981, Jim offered me a position in his department—after completion of my Ph.D. in mathematics—as a permanent member of technical staff.

Jim’s continuing and consistent commitment to diversity in mathematics was readily apparent during my time at Bell Labs. He also served as a mentor to Andrea Bertozzi (University of California, Los Angeles) as part of Bell Labs’ Graduate Research Program for Women (GRPW). His actions inspired me to become the first CRFP mentee to mentor another CRFP student: Arlie Petters (Duke University). I once joked to Jim that this made him the first CRFP “grandmentor.”

Jim’s interests went well beyond applied mathematics and included travel, music, and history. He is survived by his wife Jane, son Matthew, and daughter Rebecca, as well as extended family and friends who will miss him greatly.

In closing, I’d like to share a few comments from former researchers at Bell Labs’ Mathematical Sciences Research Center who had the pleasure of working for Jim during the 1980s:

• “Jim taught me an awful lot. I have always been extremely grateful to him for that and the many, many other things he gave to and did for me.”
• “I remember Jim fondly. He was always a supportive manager — a prime example of the ‘enlightened management’ that made Bell Labs such an amazing place to work in those days.”
• “What a great time we had in Jim’s department. I always felt like he supported me 100 percent in doing just what I wanted at Bell Labs. As a department head, he worked very hard behind the scenes so that we who reported to him didn’t have a care in the world and could concentrate on what we loved: our research.”
• “When he and Andrea [Bertozzi] worked out some details of a multiple complex variables model, I recall that he was glad to let Andrea give the seminar alone. He was so happy in the work and in working with such an accomplished young colleague.”
• “I remember Jim very well and with a great deal of respect and fondness. He was my department head when I first joined Bell Labs. I am sure I made many non-optimal decisions in that relatively early part of my career, but Jim was very open and caring and always gave good advice (which was not always taken!). I also remember very well the department parties that Jim and Jane regularly had at their house.”
• "I frequently think of both [Jim and Jane] and of Jane’s warm hospitality. During my first years fresh out of the university, the McKennas were like family to me.” 
• “What I remember most about Jim was his selfless appreciation of the people he interacted with. His delight at the insight of others was so pure and simple. What a wonderful man.”

William A. Massey is the Edwin S. Wilsey Professor in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University.