D.H. Van Lenten

Donald H. Van Lenten was involved in some of the earliest public demonstrations of computer-generated speech at Bell Telephone Laboratories. In 1962, he directed the production of a recording that showed how a computer could form human-like speech by combining basic sounds and controlling pitch, loudness, and mouth position. One well-known example, the phrase “He saw the cat,” was pronounced by the machine as “Hee Saw Dhuh Kaet.” Van Lenten is credited as having compiled and produced this recording, which was part of Bell Labs' research into the nature of speech and hearing. The same work also included one of the first examples of a computer singing, with the performance of “Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)”

He produced the 1963 educational LP Speech Synthesis, which introduced these experiments to schools and the public. His work was later featured in the 1978 Philadelphia Computer Music Festival and the album Binary Beatles, which documented early examples of computer-generated music and speech.

Van Lenten graduated in 1953 from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He held several communications roles within the Bell System, including news manager at New Jersey Bell and publications manager for AT&T’s Long Lines Department in New York City. He later served as Vice President of Public Relations at New Jersey Bell Telephone Company.