Biography of James Mack

Let me see, how shall I start? In the beginning…mmm, perhaps a bit too formal and ostentatious, so I’ll just go with the following:

After my SPH graduation I attended Kent State for one year and roomed with Jim Dible. While at Kent I enjoyed the social life; however, education proved to be my second priority. Consequently, I decided to join the US Navy on the ‘Buddy Program’ with Steve Kochis and “see the world”. Some buddy program…after a few weeks at Great Lakes boot camp, I didn’t see Steve again for four years! As for seeing the world, I spent the majority of my enlistment in Tennessee and California; however, I did spend a fair amount of time at sea on aircraft carriers off the California coast working on aviation electronics. And, then there was the Tijuana Campaign for which I volunteered and served without honor. But, I’ll save the details of that for my sequel.

In September of 1965 I was discharged from the USN just as Vietnam was heating up…good timing! The Navy had taught me several things including an appreciation of electronics. I spent the next three years attending engineering school at Arizona State University, graduated with a BSEE in electronic engineering in 1968, and went to work for Motorola’s semiconductor divisions in the Phoenix area. I continued working for Motorola for the next thirty years in various engineering capacities. During that time I also received my Master’s in EE (1975) and an MBA (1982). The division at Motorola that I was associated with was spun off as On Semiconductor Corp. in 1998 where I stayed for a time until leaving and joining another semiconductor company in the Phoenix area, Microchip Technology. After six years at the latter I retired in November, 2006. My entire career was involved in analog integrated circuits involving design, development, and finally technical marketing.

In 1978 at the ripe old age of 36 I decided to settle down and married my charming wife, Polly. As a result of her tenacity and fortitude, we remain married today. We have two wonderful daughters, Kelly (27) and Kerry (23). Kelly who just completed her Master’s degree is married and following in her mother’s footsteps being an elementary school teacher not far from our current home in Gilbert, AZ. Kerry is in her second year of grad school at U of A in Tucson studying speech pathology.

During my employment with Motorola and the other companies, I had the opportunity to travel extensively in Europe and Asia. This more than made up for what I missed during my Navy days of not seeing the world and certainly was enjoyed in much greater comfort.

Since retiring, I split my time between our mountain home in Arizona’s White Mountains and our home in the more winter-favorable area in the Phoenix desert. Polly continues to work part time in the education field as an adjunct professor for Rio Salado College. She teaches on-line so we are free to travel anywhere providing that she can get an internet connection.

As a testament to my youth and growing up in Norwalk, I still enjoy fast cars, good beer (not to the exclusion of red wine and margaritas), and visiting Las Vegas. And, even after fifty years I still look forward to visiting Norwalk to see family and friends.

See more photos of the Jim Mack family by clicking here.