Black Leaders Breaking Barriers in Tech
In honor of Black History Month, Spark! is remembering and featuring influential black leaders who have profoundly shaped science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson, the “human computer,” calculated NASA’s flight paths which contributed to the first mission to space. “Let me do it. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I’ll do it backwards and tell you when to take off,” said Johnson.
Among her many accomplishments in space exploration, synching project Apollo’s Lunar module with the Command and Service module paved the way for America’s success in spaceflight missions.
“Everything was so new – the whole idea of going into space was new and daring. There were no textbooks, so we had to write them,” said the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
For more on this incredible leader, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/mathematician-katherine-johnson-at-work
Frank Greene, Jr.
Frank Greene, Jr. was another great Black pioneer who helped break the color barrier in Silicon Valley. Greene’s innovations began with his journey as a memory chip and system designer at Fairchild Semiconductor R&D Labs. He launched semiconductor computer memory systems, which contributes to his title of one of the “first black technologists.” He founded NewVista Capital which includes start-up companies that revolved around women and minority innovators.
Evelyn Boyd Granville
After graduating and becoming the second African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics, Evelyn Boyd Granville taught and worked as an applied mathematician. While in Washington, D.C., the Yale graduate began to help develop missile fuses. Granville worked as an IBM computer programmer for NASA’s Project Vanguard and Mercury. “I can say without a doubt that this was the most interesting job of my lifetime – to be a member of a group responsible for writing computer programs to track the paths of vehicles in space,” said Granville.” As a mathematician, Granville is vocal about the ongoing problems of teaching mathematics in schools. “We teach that there is only one way to solve a problem, but we should let children explore various techniques. … But we’re not training teachers to provide this new approach.”
For more on Granville, watch this short documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPGmhU-X0Ms
Roy Clay Sr.
Better known as the Godfather of Silicon Valley, Roy Clay Sr. has had a long career as a software engineer and inventor. He is one of the first pioneers to enter the computer science industry and enabled African Americans to enter the tech field. He continued his journey through working at Silicon Valley as a computer consultant and wrote the software for the HP 2116A, which was HP’s first computer. Clay, born in a segregated town in a home with no plumbing, faced near-death experiences all his life because of the color of his skin. He reveals that his accomplishments while working at Silicon Valley were driven by his belief that more and new people should have access to computers. “My sole interest is to work with young Black males,..to encourage them to learn how to do things well,” said the Godfather of Silicon Valley.
For more information on Clay, check out this video honoring his work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-hLBvYAihw&feature=youtu.be
Clarence “Skip” Ellis
Clarence “Skip” Ellis, a prominent figure in tech, was the first African American to receive a PhD in computer science. Ellis is the pioneer of operational transformation which greatly shapes technology used today. While working at the Palo Alto Research Center, the Chicago native led a group that founded Officetalk, which was the first office system to incorporate Ethernet and icons for improved collaboration. Ellis was a notable founder of operational transformation, which is often found in computer applications like Google Docs and Apache Wave.
For more on Ellis’ accomplishments, check out: https://cs.illinois.edu/news/memory-clarence-skip-ellis-1943-2014