Joseph L. Hall

Dr. Joseph Lindley Hall, 90, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on February 6, 2026, surrounded by loved ones.

Joe married the love his life, Nancy King Hall, on June 18, 1961. Together they shared more than 64 years of marriage, making their home and raising their family in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. They lived in Basking Ridge for more than 50 years before moving to Bethlehem Pennsylvania.

Joe was born in Boston on January 22, 1936, to Sarah Redfern Hall and eminent RADAR scientist Dr. William Mott Hall. He grew up with his two brothers in Lexington, Massachusetts, graduating from Lexington High in 1953. Summers were spent at his grandfather's summer home in Charlotte, Vermont, on the coast of Lake Champlain. He had a deep love for music, playing in the band in high school, joining his college Glee Club, and singing in choirs into his late 70s. He was particularly proud to have achieved the honor of Eagle Scout.

Joe was a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in physics. He received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed his post-doctoral work at Johns Hopkins University Medical School. During these years Joe developed his lifelong passion for hearing and auditory processing and perception, which he continued professionally for 35 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

In recognition of his groundbreaking work at Bell Labs, Joe was recognized as a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff. Following his retirement from Bell, he continued his research into his late 70s at Avaya Laboratories in Basking Ridge. Younger researchers at Avaya enjoyed having lunch with Joe and learning from him almost as much as he enjoyed spending time with them. As Joe would say, he loved his work so much that he would have done it for free.

During his career Joe made a host of important contributions in the field of auditory coding. These included groundbreaking research leading to new sound encoding and compression processes, as well as the development of cochlear implant technology and a novel hearing aid. He published often and traveled the world to share his work at conferences. Joe was elected a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America in 1975 for his research in psychophysics and binaural physiology.

Joe was awarded numerous patents in his field, including one that was the subject of a lawsuit between Alcatel-Lucent (as successor to Bell Laboratories) and Microsoft over the use of MP3 encoding technologies in Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Far more interested in conducting research, it surprised Joe both to learn that the verdict in this litigation exceeded $1.5 billion and that he had been asked to play the role of expert witness in such a high stakes trial.

While Joe loved and excelled at his work, his greatest joy by far came from his wife, children and grandchildren. He never missed a swim meet or a baseball game and was a dedicated volunteer at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Millington, NJ, the Summit Speech School, and the Somerset Hills YMCA. He loved feeding and watching birds – and leveraged his electrical engineering capabilities to protect bird feeders from hungry squirrels. Joe also enjoyed gardening, walks in the Great Swamp, fishing and sailing on Lake Champlain, fixing things, and time with Nancy at Longwood Gardens and the Brandywine Museum of Art.

Joe is survived by Nancy, children David, Michael, Jillian, and Tom, daughters-in-law Kim and Suzanne, grandchildren Duncan, Jasper, Sasha, Sarah, Lindley, Caroline, and Emilia, and his faithful dog Matilda. He was preceded in death by both of his parents and his two brothers, Peter and Stephen.

A private Memorial service for Joseph's immediate family will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Memorial Fund at All Saints' Episcopal Church,15 Basking Ridge Rd, Millington, NJ 07946.