38 minutes ago
If you ever owned the original IBM personal computer, you can partially credit its existence to this man.
Dr. Mark E. Dean was born in 1957 in Jefferson City, Tennessee. Dean displayed an affinity for technology and invention at a young age. When Mark was young, he and his dad constructed a tractor from scratch.
Dean holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, a master's degree in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
The computer scientist/engineer worked for IBM, where he led the team that designed the ISA bus—the hardware interface that allows multiple devices like printers, modems, and keyboards to be plugged into a computer. This innovation helped pave the way for the personal computer's use in office and business settings.
Dean also helped develop the first color computer monitor, and in 1999 he led the team of programmers that created the world's first gigahertz chip. Today, the computer scientist holds three of the company's original nine patents, and more than 20 overall.
Dean is the first African-American to become an IBM Fellow, which is the highest level of technical excellence at the company. In 1997, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Currently, he is the interim dean of the Tickle College of Engineering and is the John Fisher Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee. He was previously CTO for IBM Middle East and Africa and was an IBM Vice President overseeing the company's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California prior to that.
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