Kenneth Whipple Bilby (October 7, 1918 – August 1, 1997) was a recipient of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, an executive vice president of

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, and the author of ''The General,'' a book on David Sarnoff's role in the creation of

and television.

Biography

He was born on October 7, 1918, in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, to Ralph Willard Bilby and Marguerite Mansfield. He had a brother, Richard Bilby, who became a judge on the

United States District Court for the District of Arizona The United States District Court for the District of Arizona (in case citations, D. Ariz.) is the U.S. district court that covers the state of Arizona. It is under the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The District was est ...

. He joined the Army on October 15, 1941. During World War II, he served with the 30th Infantry Division in France and Germany, and was awarded The Legion of Honor, the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and the Silver Star. He became a lieutenant colonel. After the World War, he covered the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and authored the book: ''New Star in the Near East''. He married Helen Owen Lehman in 1948. When he retired from RCA he was appointed Executive in Residence at Harvard Business School.

Books

*New Star in the Near East, Doubleday *The General: David Sarnoff and the rise of the Communications Industry (1986),

Harper and Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilby, Kenneth 1918 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American non-fiction writers Businesspeople from Salt Lake City Writers from Salt Lake City Recipients of the Legion of Honour Harvard Business School faculty Businesspeople from Connecticut American telecommunications industry businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers Military personnel from Texas RCA people Writers from Dallas Writers from Tucson, Arizona University of Arizona alumni