Frank S. Greene

Greene was the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Technology Development Corporation (TDC). TDC was a research and development engineering services organisation that served the federal government of the United States.^[7] The projects completed by TDC included the avionics equipment for the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, the space shuttle programme and a communication system for scuba divers.^[7] When TDC was traded publicly in 1985 it had over 300 employees.^[5] In 1985 Greene founded ZeroOne Systems, a supercomputing systems house.^[2][8] By 1987 ZeroOne had reached annual revenues of $15 million.^[5]

Greene dedicated his career to improving the representation of African-Americans in technology. He started a scholarship program in honor of his wife, Phyllis Greene, who supported the NAACP throughout her career.^[9] The scholarship is for African-American scholars from the San Jose area.^[9] In 1993 Greene founded New Vista Capital,^[10] a venture capital firm that supports people from marginalised groups.^[1][11] The Frank S. Greene scholars program was established in 2001 to support students in K–12 education in accessing mathematics and science education.^[12] The program boasts an impressive success rate; with all of its graduate attending college.^[12][13] The scholars program includes a science fair, monthly classes, an engineering competition, a career day and parent enrichment workshops.^[13]

His awards and honours include:

• 1991 Washington University in St. Louis Black Alumni Achievement Award^[4]
• 1993 Santa Clara University Distinguished Engineering Alumnus^[4]
• 1999 Purdue University Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award^[5]
• 2002 Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame^[14][15]
• 2009 Palo Alto City Hall Most Important African-Americans in Technology^[12]

In 2018, Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto was renamed after Greene.^[16]

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Greene was born in Washington, D.C.^[3] His parents were Frank S. Greene Senior and Irma Olivia Swygert.^[3] Greene was raised in St. Louis, Missouri.^[4] He was raised in a segregated society and was part of the civil rights movement.^[2] Greene died on December 26, 2009.^[1]