Our beloved Professor Q, the coolest most eclectic scientist you’ll ever meet. His favorite daily activity is to walk through the park with his A.I. bird Goldie. His dream as a kid was to grow up as an engineer of a spaceship. He did it! It just wasn’t the type of spaceship that he expected…
The celebration continues with some of the Most Prominent Black Tech Experts from History & Today
Roy Clay Sr. (1929-present)
Known as the “Godfather of Silicon Valley,” Clay grew up in Ferguson, MO and became one of the first men to attend Saint Louis University in 1946. He graduated in 1951 with a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics. He started his work in computer programming in the fifties, back when computers took up entire rooms where he worked on writing software that demonstrated how particles of radiation would spread through the atmosphere after an atomic explosion.
In the early 1970’s, during the birth of modern Silicon Valley, a venture capital firm selected Mr. Clay as a computer consultant. He became a key figure in the development of Hewlett-Packard’s computer divisions and actually led the team that engineered HP’s entrance into the computer market.
Guion Bluford (1942-present)
Best known as the first “African American man in Space,” Bluford was actually a decorated Air Force pilot in the Vietnam War long before he ever joined NASA. He flew 144 combat missions and received several medals including the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm.
Bluford became a NASA astronaut in August of 1979 and made history as a mission specialist for the Challenger launch in 1983. He made a second trip to space in the 1980’s before the tragic Challenge explosion of 1986. After which, Bluford received an MBA from the University of Houston, Clear Lake. He returned to space in 1991, completing 134 orbits in 199 hours. He returned to space one last time aboard the Discovery.
Valerie Thomas (1943-present)
Do you like seeing images from the vastness of space? If so, it’s Valerie Thomas you have to thank for it. From 1964 to 1995, Thomas worked for NASA where she developed computer data systems, conducted large-scale experiments, and managed various operations, projects, and facilities.
While managing a project for NASA’s image processing systems, Thomas’ team spearheaded the development of the first satellite to send images from space. The technology developed by Thomas is used by NASA to this day. Scientists are currently exploring how to use this in surgical tools and even television and video.
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