Dr. John Lanier Wyatt Jr.

John Lanier Wyatt, Jr. of Sudbury and Falmouth died on February 3, 2016. He grew up in Nashville Tennessee. He was a professor of electrical engineering at MIT from 1979 to 2015 when he retired. He received his undergraduate degree from MIT, where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, a master’s degree from Princeton, and his PhD from University of California at Berkeley. Professor Wyatt held 11 U.S. patents.

Professor Wyatt’s most recent research, in partnership with Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary’s director of neuro-ophthalmology Dr. Joseph Rizzo, involved the development of an electronic chip placed in the eye to facilitate vision for people blinded by macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. That work, carried out under the Boston Retinal Implant Project, led to the foundation of two new companies: Bionic Eye Technologies Inc., and Visus Technologies. He was a board member of both companies.

He first caught the nation’s eye during his high school years in 1964, when he and three classmates became the national Grand Champions of TV’s award winning “Classroom Quizbusters.” In 1990 The New York Times reported on his appointment as the first MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Adler Scholar, which allowed him to take a term off from teaching and instead take regular classes as a student. In 1998 the Retinitis Pigmentosa International Foundation awarded him the Jules Stein Living Tribute Award. In 2003, he and Dr. Rizzo were featured in the New Yorker column Annals of Medicine. In 2009 Time Magazine recognized the retinal implant as one of the 10 best inventions of the year, and in 2013 the Wall Street Journal recognized this work as part of a broader quest for a “bionic eye. He was invited to visit and speak in Italy, China, Japan, Hungary, as well as at numerous universities in the US.

When he was not teaching his students or doing research, he loved canoeing in Utah or hiking in the mountains. He repeatedly roamed the peaks of the Alps, often accompanied by long-time friend Kenny Ward Smith or his daughter Julia. An in depth travel experience to Senegal further heightened his curiosity and his holistic world view. Beginning with a semester abroad in Munich during his MIT undergraduate years and later family ties, he often visited Germany, managing to learn this difficult language well, an ability that he retained until the end.

His inquisitive nature, his open and welcoming attitude toward the many people he met, and his love and devotion to his family will be deeply missed. He leaves his wife, Christie Baxter, his daughter, Julia Wyatt, his brother, James Wyatt and nephew Timothy Wyatt, both of Berlin Germany, and stepson Andrew Cook of Sudbury.

Gifts in memory of John Wyatt may be made to the American Civil Liberties Union.

A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 11AM at the First Parish of Sudbury, Unitarian Universalist, 327 Concord Road, Sudbury. Interment at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Sudbury, will be private.

Calling hours will be on Monday, February 8, 2016 from 5-8PM at the Duckett – J. S. Waterman & Sons Home of Memorial Tribute, 656 Boston Post Road, Sudbury.