Black History Month Campaign

Dr. Frank S. Greene, Jr., was born in Washington D.C. on October 19, 1938, to Frank S, Greene, Sr. and Irma Oliva Swygert. He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis where he was among the first black students. He then went on to earn a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering at Purdue University. Afterwards, he served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an Electronics Officer developing high-performance computers for the National Security Agency and later became an air force captain. He then worked for Fairchild Semiconductor in research and development of a patented memory chip design. He also went on to further his education in the 1970s as he obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Santa Clara University.

Outside of the classroom, he pursued his business interest in the fields of computers and technology, as he became the founding Chief Executive Officer of Technology Development Corporation, which grew to become a successful computer software and technology services company. Additionally, he founded Zero One Systems, Incorporated an offshoot of his previous business. He later co-founded a venture capital firm that specialized in funding women and minority-owned businesses called New Vista Capital and subsequent New Vista Capital Funds. In addition to his work in the industry, he has shared his expertise in academia through teaching Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the university level.

As a result of his achievements and life of helping others he has been recognized with a number of prestigious awards and has even became the namesake of a program administered by the California Alliance of African-American educators called the Dr. Frank S. Greene, Jr., Scholars Program, a science, technology, and math initiative for African-American students. He has also founded the Go-Positive Foundation aimed to spread VRE: Vision, Relationship, Execution, a training tool he has developed. He was apart of a number of community organizations, as he created a history of service to others. Dr. Frank Greene Jr. died on December 26, 2009, but his legacy as a scientist, educator, parent, mentor, venture capitalist, entrepreneur, role model and now Black STEAMer still remains.

If you or someone you know is eligible, apply for the Dr. Frank S. Greene Scholars Program! www.greenescholars.org

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