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Mark Dean- Technology Trailblazer
According to page 7.25 in Discovering Computers, Concepts for a Digital World, Mark Dean
graduated at the top of his class from the University of Tennessee. After graduation, Dr. Dean soon
joined the International Business Machine (IBM) Corporation, which has had a long record of computer
successes and today is the world’s largest information technology company. 1 While working with IBM,
Dean has helped “design improvements in architecture that allow components, such as modems and
printers, to communicate with personal computers.” And, he invented the first CMOS microprocessor chip
to operate at one gigahertz (1,000 MHz). Mark Dean is currently “developing an electronic tablet that
functions as an e-book, DVD player, radio, wireless telephone, and Web-enabled device.” To top it off,
“Dean is the first African-American to receive an IBM Fellowship, the company’s highest technical
ranking.” 2
Vocabulary Terms
CMOS
IBM
Microprocessor
Definitions3
Complimentary metal oxide semiconductor.
International Business Machine.
A computer processor contained on an integrated-circuit chip;
such as a processor with memory and associated circuits.
1Cashman, T.J., G.B. Shelly, M. E. Vermaat. (2001). Discovering Computers 2002, Concepts for a Digital World. Boston, MA:
Thomson Learning. p 1.26.
2 Cashman, p 7.25.
3 All definitions found at: Merriam-Webster Online. Available at URL: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary.
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Mark Dean has spent long hours and many nights studying at the university level, receiving a
BSEE degree from the University of Tennessee, a MSEE degree from Florida Atlantic University and a
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
“Dr. Mark Dean is presently an IBM Fellow and Vice President of Systems in IBM Research.” His
main responsibility is to develop “next-generation hardware and software systems technologies.” He is
also the director of Advanced Technology Development in IBM’s Enterprise Systems Group and is
responsible for the development of technologies to support construction of large scaleable SMP servers,
while being in charge of the IBM Austin Research Laboratory in Austin, Texas. Some of his research
activities include:4

High MIPS/milliwatt embedded controllers

Full system simulation

Formal verification

Design for manufacturability

Low temperature cooling methods
Dr. Mark Dean has worked with IBM for twenty years and in turn “has held several engineering
positions in the area of computer system hardware architecture and design.” Dean has obtained a
plethora of awards ranging from the NSBE Distinguished Engineer award to the recipient of the Ronald H.
4 IBM Researcher Biographies. Available at URL:
http://domino.watson.ibm.com/Comm/bios.nsf/pages/6E216CBC0D24C8AE8525659F007D3707.html
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Brown American Innovators Award in Washington, DC to the Black Engineer of the Year President’s
Award. He was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, OH, and, if that was not
enough, Mark Dean has obtained many academic and IBM awards and has more than “30 patents or
patents pending.”5
The world’s first experimental CMOS microprocessor, demonstrated on February 4, 2002,
showed that it could operate at one billion cycles per second (1000 MHz or 1 GHz) by IBM researchers.
This is over three times faster than what today’s fastest processors usually run at. With the CMOS
microprocessor in its final stages of production, Dean hopes to start designing products that run at 1000
MHz. While experimenting with the CMOS microprocessor, Dean and his coworkers have developed “the
tools and insight that will be necessary to push this technology to even greater performance levels.” 6
Mark Dean is indeed an accomplished and well deserving scientist and engineer!
5
6
IBM as found at: http://domino.watson.ibm.com/Comm/bios.nsf/pages/6E216CBC0D24C8AE8525659F007D3707.html
African American Invention Express. Available at URL: http://www.invention-express.com/dean.html
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Bibliography
African American Invention Express. Available at URL: http://www.invention-express.com/dean.html
Cashman, T.J., G.B. Shelly, M. E. Vermaat. (2001). Discovering Computers 2002, Concepts for a Digital
World. Boston, MA: Thomson Learning.
IBM Researcher Biographies. Available at URL:
http://domino.watson.ibm.com/Comm/bios.nsf/pages/6E216CBC0D24C8AE8525659F007D3707.ht
ml
Merriam-Webster Online. Available at URL: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
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