Celebrating Black History Month – Digital Innovators

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Initially recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, Black History Month shines a light on the millions of African Americans who have triumphed through adversity, uplifting humanity through their achievements. This Black History Month, we will focus on a couple of digital innovators whose inventions paved the way for the continuing evolution of computer science.

Philip Emeagwali

Born in Nigeria in 1954, Philip Emeagwali moved to the US to pursue a career in engineering and mathematics. After receiving master’s degrees from George Washington University and the University of Maryland, he developed the world’s fastest computer, earning him the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize from the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers.

Philip Emeagwali
By InfoATemeagwaliDOTcom - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28098049
Mark Dean
Photo: AP Photo/IBM

Dr. Mark Dean

Born in Tennessee in 1957, Dr. Mark Dean is the first African American to become an IBM fellow.

Dean’s research at IBM helped change the accessibility and power of the personal computer. His work led to the development of the color PC monitor and, in 1999, Dean led a team of engineers at IBM’s Austin, Texas, lab to create the first gigahertz chip—a revolutionary piece of technology that is able to do a billion calculations a second.

In all, Dean holds three of the company’s original nine patents and, in total, has more 20 patents associated with his name.

Biography.com

Dr. Mark Dean’s innovations led to his induction into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 1997.

 
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