Dean was born in Jefferson City, Tennessee, 1957. He still lives to this day. At a younger age, Mark amazed both his peers and teachers at Jefferson City High School. He went on to earn a Bachelors degree of science at the University of Tennessee in 1979. After that, he began working at IBM. Eventually, he earned a Masters of Science degree at Florida Atlantic University in 1982. In the way of Computer Science, Mark Dean contributed by developing the first PC monitor and gigahertz chip. Working with others, he discovered ways to plug in printers and monitors directly into computers. Dean's contributions still affect the ever changing world of technology. The most interesting tidbit I found while researching Mark Dean was the fact that he attended a integrated High School. By doing so, he suprised many of the white students and teachers there with his academic brilliance.
Gladys Mae West was born on October 27th, 1930 in Sutherland, Virginia. Early in her life, teachers encouraged her love of math. Later in her school life, she earned a full scholarship to Virginia State College. She graduated in 1952, and pursued many jobs in the government field. Throughout her career, Glady's developed the first geodesy model for satellites, earning her the Webby Lifetime Achivement. Curiously enough, Glady's West was one of the first African American women at her job. As can be seen in the film "Hidden Figures," Gladys worked at NASA and assisted with computing and the development of systems and models. Integrating with workers who did not respect her due to the color of her skin was a challenge for her, but she overcame it and succeeded, forever altering history of both Computer Science and our world.
Katherine Johnson also known as Katherine Golbe was an African Amercian Mathematician who played an integral role in getting American to the moon. Born in August 26th 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. She lived to be 101 years of age and passed on February 24th, 2020. She spent her whole life being a trailblazer and role model. Even in her youth Coleman was very talented with numbers. She started high school when she was only 10 years old. When she turned 18 she graduated from West Virgnia State College earning a degree in mathematics and French as one of three African American students. Despite not having any inventions of her own she still played a part in the entire science community. Katherine Johnson was one of the inspirations for many of the computing engines used today. So much so that back then when people would reference calculators, they would be the first thing that came to mind.
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