Meet Mark Dean, IBM engineer who invented colour PC monitor, others

He holds three of the company’s original nine patents. He also invented the Industry Standard Architecture system bus with engineer Dennis Moeller, allowing for computer plug-ins such as disk drives and printers.

With three of IBM’s original nine patents to his name, Dean is also credited with helping to launch the personal computer age with work that made the machines more accessible and powerful.

Born and bred in Jefferson City, Tennesse, the 68-year-old started showing interest in building things from an early age.

As a young boy, Dean constructed a tractor from scratch with the help of his father, a supervisor at the Tennessee Valley Authority.

He also distinguished himself in many different areas, standing out as a gifted athlete and an extremely smart student who graduated with straight A’s from Jefferson City High School.

In 1979, he graduated at the top of his class at the University of Tennessee, where he studied engineering.

His journey into IBM started not long after college, as he landed a job at the American company.

As an engineer, Dean proved to be a rising star at the company, as he worked closely with a colleague, Dennis Moeller.

Dean’s research at IBM helped change the accessibility and power of the personal computer.

 

His work led to the development of the color PC monitor and, in 1999, Dean led a team of engineers at IBM’s Austin, Texas, lab to create the first gigahertz chip—a revolutionary piece of technology that is able to do a billion calculations a second.

In all, Dean holds three of the company’s original nine patents and, in total, has more 20 patents associated with his name.

Despite his early success, Dean continued to further his education. He earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 1982. Then, 10 years later, he completed his doctorate in the same field from Stanford University.

While he might not be as popular as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as computer pioneer, dean has not gone completely unrecognised.

In 1996, he was named an IBM fellow, the first African American ever to receive the honour. A year later, he was recognised with the Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was tapped to be a member of the National Academy of Engineers.

“A lot of kids growing up today aren’t told that you can be whatever you want to be,” Dean has said. “There may be obstacles, but there are no limits.”