Legends of Business Technology

Roy Clay, Sr. — Godfather of Silicon Valley
Roy Clay came a long way from Ferguson, MO to become known as the “Godfather of Silicon Valley.” He is one of the iconic pioneers of the technology industry. He graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Saint Louis University and began working in computer programming.
As a computer programmer at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in 1958, Clay wrote software which demonstrated how particles of radiation would spread through the atmosphere after an atomic explosion. Now days code writing is the focus in technology, but Clay was writing code in the 1960s. While at Control Data Corporation in 1963, he worked on developing the FORTRAN computer language.
Clay became known and respected throughout the technology industry for his innovative developments. In 1965, David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard knew little about software and recruited Clay to establish the company’s software development facility. Clay also managed the computer division. He led the team that developed HP’s 2116A computer in 1966 and wrote the software. The HP 2116A greatly reduced the size of the computer, improved its reliability and heralded HP’s emergence into the computer market under Clay’s guidance.
Clay was a vital part of the development of the modern technology industry in California’s Silicon Valley and helped many of the major tech companies grow. In the 1970s he established his own company, Rod-L Electronics, where he invented the first electronic equipment safety testing device certified by Underwriters Laboratory (UL). The ROD-L tester is used on HP, IBM, AT&T and Xerox production lines, and its sticker is on the companies’ computer products to show that they were UL certified. The Rod-L tester continues to be the standard.
Clay was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Council’s Hall of Fame in 2003 for his pioneering accomplishments alongside Bill Hewlett and David Packard of HP. Now in his 90s, Clay Sr. still lives and works in Palo Alto.
Dr. Mark Dean — Father of the Personal Computer
Any Black person who uses a computer should know about Dr. Mark Dean. He is the architect of the modern-day personal computer who helped start the digital revolution that created people like Bill Gates and Michael Dell. Inducted into the National Hall of Inventors in 1997 joining Drs. George Washington Carver and Percy Julian, Dean holds three of the original nine patents that all PCs are based upon, with more than 20 patents that include his name.
A native of Tennessee, Dean graduated at the top of his class at the University of Tennessee, part of the Minority Engineering Program, and received a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1979. He earned a MSEE in 1982 from Florida Atlantic University and a Ph.D. in EE from Stanford in 1992.
Dean joined IBM in 1980 and was chief engineer working on personal computers. He eventually became vice president of Systems Research. The IBM PS/2 Models 70 and 80, and the Color Graphics Adapter are among his early work. He paved the way for millions of jobs in information technology by developing the use of plug-in subsystems and peripherals like disk drives, video gear, speakers and scanners. The computer wasn’t practical for home or small business use until Dean came along. He led the team that developed the interior architecture (ISA systems bus) that enables multiple devices such as modems and printers to be connected to personal computers. Because of him, the PC became a part of our daily lives. Dean made history again by leading the design team responsible for creating the color PC monitor and the first 1-gigahertz processor chip which did a billion calculations per second — another huge step in making computers faster and smaller.
He was Chief Technology Officer for IBM Middle East and Africa, and was responsible for the company’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California. Dean was named an IBM Fellow, one of only 50 active fellows and the first African American to be so honored. He was honored with the Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award in 1997 and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2001 he became a member of the National Academy of Engineers.
After retiring from IBM in 2013, Dean returned to his Alma Mater as interim dean of the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering, and is now the John Fisher Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
We cannot afford to let these legends become footnotes in “history.” When I studied dance at Howard University, before we could take one step on the studio floor, the first assignment was to research and write a paper on African American dance icons Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham so we would know the history of our people in the field.
The same must be done for technology and every other field of study. The contributions of Black people in every field must be taught so the history can be corrected. Community technology centers and other teachers of technology should learn and teach the history of Roy Clay, Sr. and Dr. Mark Dean before even turning on the computer. They deserve the recognition and our students deserve to know the truth.