Executive Director Gregory B. Bishop
1941-2001
One of the key individuals on the team that developed and managed the Chicago Office of Emergency Communications was Gregory B. Bishop. He was the 9-1-1 center’s executive director when he died on May 19, 2001, at age 59.
“Greg was a mild-mannered man with great management skills,” said Rich Nowakowski, the city’s project manager for radio interoperability. “He was able to work with all of the city department heads, the vendors and with the legislature in passing 9-1-1 legislation.”
Nowakowski had been Bishop’s friend since 1967, when Bishop started his work for the city as a switchboard operator in what was then the Main Fire Alarm Office. Bishop’s interest in radio communications dates to early childhood when he built an AM radio to monitor police calls.
Bishop rose through the ranks as junior fire alarm operator in 1971, assistant project director for the 9-1-1- Project Team in 1987, managing deputy director of the newly formed Office of Emergency Communications in 1992 and its acting executive director in 1999 and executive director in 2000.
“Greg was instrumental in getting radio interoperability for the city off the ground. His interest in radio communications and interoperability has placed Chicago in the forefront. Through his lead, we were able to get the ACU-1000 modular interconnect system with a National Institute of Justice grant and install it in a vehicle in the first mobile application,” Nowakowski said.
He also credited Bishop with the city’s participation in a newly awarded $400,000 grant for another radio interoperability project using software-defined radio equipment from the Naval Research Laboratory.
“We will be able to demonstrate newest technology in SDR by using the Joint Combat Information Terminal, including real-time video, interoperability among data systems and a self-contained cellular network. We will be able to have our own cellular communications network if we lose infrastructure,” Nowakowski said.
Bishop was known for giving special attention to the more than 500 foreign visitors who came each year to tour the Chicago 9-1-1 center, which answers 12,000 calls for service each day at 108 consoles.
Bishop was a member of APCO and NENA; an executive board member of PSWN and Illinois LEADS; and chairman of the Region 54 Regional Conformance Review Committee.
“He was a kind and gentle man,” Nowakowski said. “He was like a brother.”
