Greene, Frank S. Jr.

1938-2009 · Contribution: 1960s

Electrical engineer and venture capitalist

Designed high-speed semiconductor computer memory systems at Fairchild Semiconductor in the 1960s, among the fastest memory chips of their time, used in the ILLIAC IV supercomputer; pioneered redundant solid-state RAM

Technology & Engineering

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Born: 1938, Washington, D.C.
Active since: 1965
Category: Technology & Engineering
Best known for: Pioneering high-speed semiconductor memory

Impact on the world

Greene helped push computing forward with record-fast memory chips, then opened another door by financing minority- and women-led startups as a venture capitalist.

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