The Labs were a pressure cooker though. Not everyone was or could be a Ritchie, Thompson, Chu, or Stormer but that was the standard. Freewheeling research was only sustainable a when it had virtually unlimited funding due to the AT&T monopoly. When I got there in late 1990, the breakup had long since taken root and the culture was in flux. The AT&T business units were now being taxed to pay for R&D and they wanted returns on their investment. The VP of Research had also announced his intention to emphasize the software side (including math, CS, etc.) over hardware (physics, chemistry, materials, etc.)

The permanent members of technical staff in the physical sciences were under tremendous pressure to be both world-leading scientists while somehow being applied enough to help AT&T long distance fight off MCI and other competitors who had no R&D arms. There was no guidance on how to do this except "Well, work harder."

I will always be grateful to them for shielding me and the other postdocs from all the turmoil. It would have been very easy for them to say, "You're on your own" and look out for themselves but they always made time to talk to us and give us whatever support we needed. Needless to say, I miss that spirit.