50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology

A Patent Powerhouse
A Patent Powerhouse
The late Dr. Robert Lawrence Thornton achieved 46 patents which affect our daily lives. His legacy of excellence is celebrated beginning June 16 with an exhibition LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE: The Lasers of Dr. Robert Lawrence Thornton.

Whenever one uses a laser printer, they are experiencing the genius of the late Dr. Robert Lawrence Thornton.

If the name does not ring a bell, then join the next Catapulting Innovation and Learning program on June 16 in San Jose to understand how dramatically he affected American and global science.

National Clout
National Clout
CIO featured the 50 Most Important African-Americans in this March 2002 story

Dr. Thornton was a two-time winner of the Xerox Eagle Award for top patent producers for his 46 patents in laser technology, including the quad spot laser in 1985, just two years after winning a Ph.D in applied physics at Stanford University.  For 15 years, he was a scientist at Xerox' Palo Alto Research Center.   

A graduate of Gonzaga High School in downtown Washington, D.C., Thornton was a National Merit Scholar who got his bachelors degree from Caltech.

A long heritage of innovation
A long heritage of innovation
Roy Clay and the late Dr. Frank Greene before 50 Most in Palo Alto in 2009

Other distinguished scientists and entrepreneurs will join the exhibit opening such as Dr. Reginald Parker of 510Nano and Laron Walker of Sciberus.

Catapulting is a year-round initiative to reach a level of 20,000 patent applications by African-Americans and to raise the participation of black students in courses which prepare them for high technology careers.  Based on the research of the eleven annual Silicon Ceiling: Equal Opportunity and High Technology reports and the histories of the 12 annual groups of the 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology, we've crafted a process to guide promising innovators with a track record of achievement into the types of business opportunities which can attract investment and major customers domestically and internationally.

Black Innovation Month in April 2012 dispels the stereotypes that blacks do not participate in these fields with the daily accounts of multiple patent holders and innovators who played critical roles in the most sophisticated industrial applications.

Legacy of black innovation
Legacy of black innovation
Ken Coleman, Chair of MIPS Technologies and Accelrys, talks with Mrs. Katherine Lawson, whose late husband Jerry Lawson invented the first cartridge video game, during screening at Tech Museum of Innovation as producer John William Templeton looks on.

On Thursday, June 14, we'll provide our second annual I Belong: Culturally-Responsive Instruction in Math and Science professional development seminar for teachers in Sunnyvale.

By registering, you'll have the classroom products to provide effective learning for students who have been previously ill-served.

ReUNION: Education-Arts-Heritage network describes its new array of exciting educational programming to give our children the opportunity they need to excel in the fastest-growing, best paying fields.

And you'll have a seat at the annual 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology symposium in Washington, D.C. next Jan. 15.

Dr. Juan Gilbert describes why the knowledge of innovators like Dr. Thornton is so important.

Syndicate content