South Africa-born, US-resident behavioural scientist.

He led the team at Bell Labs that was, among other things, responsible for designing the shape of the touch-tone telephone, the introduction of all-digit dialling, and the length of the telephone cord.

Obituary:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/business/john-e-karlin-who-led-the-way-to-all-digit-dialing-dies-at-94.html?hp&pagewanted=all