Black History Month: Celebrating Tech Pioneers
From the 19th century to present day, their accomplishments are remarkable.
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Best known for his contributions to the electric light bulb, inventor Lewis Howard Lattimer (1848-1928) was also a skilled draftsman. In 1876, he was employed by Alexander Graham Bell to draft the drawings necessary to receive a patent for Bell’s telephone.
Speaking of Bell’s telephone, it was the work of Granville T. Woods (1856-1910) that paved the way for telephony. In 1887, he invented and patented the induction telegraph, which allowed people to communicate by voice over telegraph wires. Woods’ patent for the device was purchased by Bell.
Dallas native Otis Boykin (1920-1982) obtained 26 patents during his lifetime. Primary among his invention was a wire precision resistor that was used in IBM computers. He also worked on a control unit for the pacemaker that allowed it to be more precisely regulated. In 2014, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
If her name doesn’t ring a bell, then her invention absolutely will. In 1966, Marie Van Bittan Brown (1922-1999) and her husband co-invented a closed-circuit television security system for home monitoring. Their system launched an industry and is used in the majority of home security platforms in use today — including Ring.
Known as the “Godfather of Silicon Valley,” Roy. L. Clay Sr. (1920-present) worked as the research and development director of HP’s computer division and was instrumental in the creation of the company’s first computers in the 1960s. In 1977, he founded ROD-L Electronics and at the age of 92 still serves as its CEO.
Hired as a mathematician by the U.S. Navy in 1956, Dr. Gladys Mae West (1930-present) soon was put to work using and programming new supercomputers to improve naval systems. The calculations she developed for locating satellites were eventually used to develop GPS. West received the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers award in 2018.
While working at Bell Labs in 1962, James E. West (1931-present) and his colleague Gerhard Sessler co-invented the electret microphone, which was more sensitive, more compact and less expensive to produce than the condenser microphone. Patented in 1964, the microphone is used in most mobile phones today. West and Sessler were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999.
As an employee of NASA, Annie J. Easley (1933-2011) became a leading member of the team that developed the software for the Centaur rocket stage. That work helped lay the foundation for the launch of communication satellites.
Working at Fairchild Semiconductor R&D Labs in the 1960s, Dr. Frank S. Greene (1938-2009) developed high-speed semiconductor computer memory systems. He also founded two software companies, Technology Development Corp. and ZeroOne Systems, as well as NewVista Capital, a venture firm with a special focus on women- and minority-led companies. In 2001, he was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame.
An employee of NASA from 1964 until 1995, Dr. Valerie L. Thomas (1943-present) developed the illusion transmitter, for which she received a patent in 1980. She also led a team that spearheaded the development of the first satellite to send images from space. The technology she developed was used in the creation of 3-D television and MRIs.
The first Black to earn a Ph.D. in computer science, Dr. Clarence Ellis (1943-2014) was a true pioneer in computers. He set up the first computer lab at Beloit College. His best-known achievement came while he was working in office communication and groupware at Xerox. He created OfficeTalk, an office information system that enabled co-workers to communicate and collaborate online. This paved the way for programs such as Google Docs and Sharepoint. He also developed the technology for computer commands to be executed by clicking on-screen icons.
Emmit J. McHenry (1943-present) created a complex computer code that we know as .com. He co-founded Network Solutions, an early leading internet domain service. In 1995, he founded telecommunications and engineering company NetCom Solutions, where he still serves as CEO. The company has been honored by IBM and NASA, among others.
The first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. from MIT, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson (1946-present) is a theoretical physicist. Her research and experiments paved the way for the creation of fiber optic cables, touch-tone telephones, caller ID and call waiting. She is currently president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Immediately after graduating from Tennessee State University, James Eugene Russell (1948-present) went to work at Bell Labs. He rose through the ranks to become head of a team that was investigating ways of making the nascent mobile phone a practical and possible to use. His team made the first phone call over a digital cellular network in America. After that, he turned his focus on 4G innovation. He holds more than 100 patents for digital cellular technology. He was inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and received the U.S. Medal of Technology for his work.
Sometimes it takes a village, sometimes it takes a rocket scientist. A former Air Force and NASA engineer, Lonnie G. Johnson (1949-present) worked on the Galileo Jupiter probe and the Mars Observer project. He holds more than 40 patents, including one for the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter, which converts heat directly into electricity. Never heard of it? How about the Super Soaker? Yeah, we thought so. He invented that, too.
While studying bees, Nigerian-born Philip Emeagwali (1954-present) was inspired by the construction of honeycombs to build a computer system that could work and internally communicate in the same way as a beehive. In 1989 he put 65,000 microprocessors together to create the world’s first massively parallel processing supercomputer — the fastest computer on earth. The technology he developed is used today in all search engines. Today at the Army High Performance Computing Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Emeagwali conducts research on next-generation supercomputers.
Dr. Marian R. Croak (1955-present), vice president of engineering at Google, holds hundreds of patents, most related to VoIP protocol. In 2013, she was inducted into the Women in Technology’s international hall of fame, largely for the work she did while she was vice president of research and development at AT&T Labs.
While working at Macromedia, John Henry “JT” Thompson (1959-present) invented the programming language Lingo. The language helps render visuals in computer programs and was used to create Flash and Shockwave programs. Macromedia later sold Shockwave to Adobe. Thompson is now is now a partner and chief scientist at EP Visual Design and adjunct professor in the graduate division of New York University’s Tisch-ITP program.
Once JT Thompson had developed Lingo, computer scientist Lisa Gelobter (1971-present) led the product team during the release of Shockwave and Flash. Gelobter wrote the code for Shockwave’s ActiveX plugin Internet Explorer, which facilitated publishing video, animation (such as GIFs) and other multimedia to the web. She went on to establish business operations for Hulu and led the digital operation at BET. Today she is CEO and co-founder of tEQuitable, which provides an independent, confidential platform to address issues of bias, harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
Once JT Thompson had developed Lingo, computer scientist Lisa Gelobter (1971-present) led the product team during the release of Shockwave and Flash. Gelobter wrote the code for Shockwave’s ActiveX plugin Internet Explorer, which facilitated publishing video, animation (such as GIFs) and other multimedia to the web. She went on to establish business operations for Hulu and led the digital operation at BET. Today she is CEO and co-founder of tEQuitable, which provides an independent, confidential platform to address issues of bias, harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
In honor of Black History Month, we’re looking at 20 Black pioneers who have made important contributions to the tech industry. Some were true “hidden figures.” Others have been honored for their inventions and innovations, and attained considerable success. All are remarkable in their accomplishments.
The slideshow above will give you a brief introduction to this group of amazing visionaries.
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