Austin Bailey, son of KU Chemistry Department Chairman Edgar Henry Summerfield (E.H.S.) Bailey, was born in Lawrence, KS, on June 9, 1893. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from KU in 1915 and served as a Lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps during World War I. He then went to work for Corning Glass Works before receiving his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University.

Bailey accepted an assistant professorship in the Physics Department at KU from 1921-1922, then joined the Research and Development Department at American Telephone and Telegraph Company, where he worked until his retirement in 1958.

During his career, Dr. Bailey received over 20 patents in the field of radio communication and earned world-wide attention for his role in the first transatlantic telephone call. He was also responsible for the establishment of coastal harbor radio systems, the first public vehicular mobile radiotelephone (car phone), the public air-ground radiotelephone (Skyphone), and other communication systems. He received numerous professional accolades for his communication work and received the Award for Distinguished Service from the University in 1961.

Dr. Austin Bailey was very active in his community of Millburn, New Jersey until his death in February 1973.