Eric Eden Sumner was an Austrian engineer and scientist, well known for his
contributions to the early developments of switching systems.

Born in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, he moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 where he went to
Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...

,
earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

 from Cooper Union

Cooper Union

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...

 (1948),
and M.A.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 degrees in physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 (1953) and electrical engineering

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

 (1960) from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 .
Sumner joined Bell Labs

Bell Labs

Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...

 (1948) where he became leader of the group that developed the
pulse code modulation transmission system (1955),
and later director of transmission systems (1960) that developed the T1

Digital Signal 1

Digital signal 1 is a T-carrier signaling scheme devised by Bell Labs. DS1 is a widely used standard in telecommunications in North America and Japan to transmit voice and data between devices. E1 is used in place of T1 outside North America, Japan, and South Korea...

 carrier system (1962).
Following this, he led the underwater transmission laboratory projects on submarine surveillance systems (1962–67),
the transmission media division in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 (1967–71) and
the loop division (1971-) where he oversaw development of computerized network management

Network management

Network management refers to the activities, methods, procedures, and tools that pertain to the operation, administration, maintenance, and provisioning of networked systems....

 systems.
After retiring (1989) he served as president

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 of the IEEE (1991) and was chairman of New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame

New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame

The New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame was established in 1987 to honor individuals and corporations in New Jersey for their invention contributions. Award recipients are recognized at the annual Award Banquet Dinner...

.
Sumner died of heart failure.

He held eleven patents, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering

National Academy of Engineering

The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...

 (1988).
Sumner was an IEEE Fellow

IEEE Fellow

An IEEE member is elevated to the grade of IEEE Fellow for "unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest"...

 and received the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal

IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal

The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal is an award honoring "exceptional contributions to the advancement of communications sciences and engineering" in the field of telecommunications...

jointly with M. Robert Aaron

M. Robert Aaron

M. Robert Aaron was a noted American electrical engineer specializing in telecommunications.Aaron was born in Philadelphia, served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II, received his bachelor's and master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and...

 and John S. Mayo

John S. Mayo

John S. Mayo is an American engineer, known from contributions to the computer and telecommunications industry,and as being the seventh president of Bell Labs ....

(1978).
The IEEE Eric E. Sumner award includes a bronze medal and was instituted in his name (1995).