Clyde E. Bailey, Sr.
Patent Counsel
Clyde E. Bailey, Sr., patent counsel, Eastman Kodak Company, was selected by MCCA® as a trailblazer. In 2003, Bailey was named the 61st president of the National Bar Association (NBA), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of predominantly African-American lawyers and judges, founded 79 years ago by African-American lawyers. It is an esteemed position to which very few corporate counsel have been elected.
Immediately, Bailey began work toward his goal of increasing the representation of minorities and women in the judicial system, as well as increasing service to underserved communities. Among his many accomplishments as NBA president, Bailey spearheaded the development of a NBA judicial grading process for evaluating candidates and nominees to federal and state courts; launched the first NBA diversity pledge to encourage corporate law departments and majority law firms to embrace diversity and inclusion; and promoted, organized, and founded the National African American Drug Policy Coalition (NAADPC), a preeminent coalition of African American professional organizations concerned with drug abuse policy and laws.
Elsewhere, Bailey’s leadership, consultation, and service are in high demand in many professional and civic circles. He is also the past president of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation board of directors and co-chair of the National African American Drug Policy Coalition. In these capacities, Bailey has appeared on Capitol Hill to lobby for foundation funding and matters of concern to association members.
Bailey has received numerous awards and citations for his outstanding contributions to the bar and community, including keys to the cities of Shreveport, La. and Bossier City, La.; a lifetime achievement award from the Rochester Black Bar Association; four NBA presidential awards; the Corporate Counsel Award; the NBA Commercial Law Section; and the Congressional Black Caucus Chair Award, among others.
In his current capacity as a Patent Attorney, Bailey has prepared and prosecuted over 500 patent applications worldwide. These applications cover diverse technologies, among them advanced turbo-machinery components and materials, space and terrestrial analytical equipment, photosensitive film/paper processing equipment, advanced ceramic/composite materials, packaging, and photosensitive materials.
Prior to Kodak, Bailey practiced intellectual property law, space commercialization law, and equal employment law for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He also spent a brief period as a staff attorney in the Capitol Hill office of Ohio Congressman Louis Stokes. Distinguished in science and engineering, Bailey has been a senior engineer and physicist at the Xerox Corporation; a technical leader at General Electric Company; and an adjunct professor of mathematics at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland.
Because he is an outstanding minority in-house counsel who stands as a role model in the profession and has made significant efforts to advance diversity, Clyde E. Bailey, Sr. is richly deserving of the MCCA Trailblazer Award.
At press time, the NY Dinner had not been held. Group photos of the awards winners will appear in the Jan./Feb. 2005 issue of Diversity & the Bar®.
From the November/December 2004 issue of Diversity & The Bar®