Biography
About the Authors
Robert J. Joling is a World War II veteran of the Pacific Theater of Operations where he was a member of the 20th Air Force, 339th Heavy Bombardment, 19th Bomb Group, and 28th Squadron. Born in Lynden, Washington, raised in Austinville, Iowa and Kenosha, Wisconsin, Bob attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was licensed to practice law before the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Eastern and Western Federal District Courts in 1951 and the Arizona Federal District Court in1972 In 1956, Bob was admitted to practice law before the 7th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, and before the United States Supreme Court.
During his first 20 years in law practice, Bob was a trial lawyer. In 1971 he joined the original faculty at the newly constructed medical school in Tucson, Arizona. There he was an Associate professor of Medical Jurisprudence. Bob left the University of Arizona College of Medicine and returned to the trial practice of law in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in1976. Again, he spent 20 years performing trial work before leaving the active trial practice of law. Shortly thereafter, Bob was appointed as a Municipal Court Judge, a position he filled for the next 5 years.
During the 57 years that Bob has been licensed to practice law, he has spent over 50 years in the promotion of the forensic sciences, becoming a Fellow (1961) and past President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (1975-76). Bob was a Founder and Chairperson of the Forensic Science Foundation. He was a Member of the British Academy of Forensic Sciences and also a former Associate in Law of the American College of Legal Medicine.
Bob has authored numerous scientific articles published within the Journal of Forensic Sciences as well as chapters of several books related to the forensic sciences. He has contributed articles to the Saturday Evening Post and Argosy Magazine, and has appeared on several radio and television shows including the Jack Eigen Show (Chicago), Channel 4-Milwaukee, Channel 4-Tucson, Unsolved Mysteries, Discovery Times TV Channel, the Discovery History TV Channel; and has been a speaker and lecturer at many Universities and Colleges throughout the United States.
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Phil Van Praag’s involvement in the audio field has spanned the past 45 years, with forensic analysis of magnetic media recordings included over 35 of those years. The context of his involvement in the field has been embodied both within his professional career and as a result of ongoing independent study. In that regard, he has maintained a substantial laboratory facility with considerable scientific instrumentation with which to conduct his research. The photos below show a small portion of this facility.
Possessing a Master of Science degree in Engineering (Electrical), Phil’s professional employment background has included, most recently, a position of Vice President of Information Technology (IT) for the American Heart Association. Prior to that, he was the Chief Information Officer & Vice President of IT for Applied Power, Inc. He had previously worked as a Director of Information Systems at R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., and the Technical Head of Automated Data Management at Hughes Aircraft Co. He has also held engineering related positions at Ampex Corporation as a Senior Instructor in their Professional Audio/Video Systems division, and in technical laboratory work at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Sandia National Laboratories, and IBM.
At various times throughout his career, Phil has maintained membership in professional societies: the IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers) for 14 years; SME (the Society of Manufacturing Engineers) for 8 years; SMPTE (the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers) for 16 years; and is currently (as of December, 2007) an applicant in the AAFS (American Academy of Forensic Sciences). He is a present holder of a General RadioTelephone Operator License with the Federal Communications Commission (since 1976).
Phil’s published works have included a book in 1997 entitled “Evolution of the Audio Recorder” which has been recognized around the world, including citation from The Smithsonian Institution Archives. He is the past author of numerous technical articles and papers, published in various national and international magazines and journals. For example, his major scientific paper on computer networking was read at the annual international IEEE conference in Trondheim, Norway.
Phil’s audio forensic research and discoveries in the Robert F. Kennedy assassination led to a Discovery Times Channel documentary in June, 2007, and an upcoming (as of December, 2007) scientific presentation of his findings at the annual international AAFS conference in Washington, DC in 2008.