Recognizing Black Leaders of our Industry
Black history month is an important time to highlight the achievements and contributions of African Americans throughout our history. As a black owned business, RCR feels it is necessary to acknowledge a few of the black leaders who have paved the way in our industry.
Roy L. Clay
Often referred to as the “Godfather of Silicon Valley,” Clay, is widely recognized as the lead developer of the Hewlett-Packard (HP) 2116A minicomputer. Clay’s contributions propelled the company’s entrance to the computer market and he was later inducted into Silicon Valley Engineering Council’s Hall of Fame.
https://garage.hp.com/us/en/news/roy-clay-black-history-silicon-valley.html
Emmit McHenry
McHenry is well known for writing the code that made it possible for anyone to search the internet or send/receive e-mails, without extensive knowledge of computer coding. In more simple terms, he created what is known today as “.com.”
Marian Croak
One of Croak’s major contributions to the industry is her work on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies. VoIP technology allows us to stream audio over the internet, rather than relying on traditional phone lines. This is widely used in our cellphone and video conference communications today. Croak is currently a Vice President of Engineering at Google.
This is in no way an exhaustive list of contributions that African Americans have made to the world of technology and computer science. If you are interested in learning more, feel free to check out some of the links below:
https://www.infoworld.com/article/3606070/hidden-figures-7-black-programmers-you-should-know.html
https://newrelic.com/blog/nerd-life/black-history-month-computer-science-infographic
https://code.org/blackhistorymonth
Photo Sources:
https://www.blackentrepreneurprofile.com/people/person/roy-l-clay-sr
