Roy Clay

Last updated
Roy Clay
Born1929
Kinloch, Missouri
Alma mater Saint Louis University
Employer(s) Hewlett-Packard
ROD-L Electronics

Roy Clay Sr. (born 1929) is an American computer scientist and inventor. He was a founding member of the computer division at Hewlett-Packard, where he led the team that created the HP 2116A. He is the Chief Executive Officer of ROD-L electronics and has been involved with the development of electrical safety equipment.

Contents

Early life and education

Clay was born in Kinloch, Missouri. [1] At the time, Kinloch was the oldest African American community that was incorporated in Missouri. [2] During his summer holidays he worked as a gardener in Ferguson, Missouri, but was encouraged by the local police to leave the majority white town. [3] Despite experiencing racism throughout his childhood, Clay's mother told him to "you will face racism the rest of your life, but don't ever let that be a reason why you don't succeed". [3] [4] [5] Clay attended a segregated school and eventually was awarded a scholarship to study mathematics at Saint Louis University (SLU). [1] [5] Whilst at SLU Clay wanted to become a Baseball player. [5] He was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from SLU with a bachelor's degree in 1951 and, after struggling to find work in technology, Clay started work as a school teacher. [3] [6] At an interview for McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, Clay was taken aside and told "Mr. Clay, I'm very sorry, we don't hire professional Negroes". [5] He taught himself to code, and by 1958 was a programmer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. [1] His early work involved creating a radiation tracking system to study the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. [3] Whilst working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Clay was introduced to David Packard, who encouraged Clay to apply for a job. [7] After leaving LLNL Clay worked at Control Data Corporation, where he created new Fortran compilers. [3] [8]

Career

In 1962 Clay moved to Palo Alto, California. [5] Clay joined Hewlett-Packard (HP), where he helped to launch and lead the Computer Science division in 1965. [9] [10] He was director of the team who developed the HP 2116A, one of Hewlett-Packard's first mini-computers. Clay stayed at HP until the mid seventies, eventually rising to being the highest-ranking African-American member of staff. [1] Whilst working at HP Clay developed several initiatives to improve the representation of African-Americans in Silicon Valley. [3] He recognised the need to test electrical products for safety, and left HP in 1971 to start his own business. [9]

Clay is the founding director of ROD-L Electronics, which is based in Menlo Park, California. [11] The company is recognised not only for its technical innovation but its community work. Clay invented the dielectric withstand test, or high potential (hipot) safety test. In 2002 Clay was elected by the African American Museum and Library at Oakland as one of the most important African-Americans working in technology. [9] San Mateo County awarded ROD-L Electronics the Dads Count Family Friendly Employer Award and Clay was inducted into the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame in 2003. [12]

Clay was involved with local politics, and was the first African-American to join the city council of Palo Alto. He was elected Vice Mayor in 1976. [1] [3]

Personal life

Clay was married to Virginia Clay, with whom he had three sons. After his wife died in 1995 Clay founded the Virginia Clay Annual Golf Classic. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Oakland Post. "Computer Genius Roy L. Clay Sr. Started Life in Ferguson, Mo. | Post News Group" . Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  2. ↑ Henderson, Diedtra. "Before Bill Gates, There Was Roy L. Clay Sr". The Root. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hickins, Michael. "From Ferguson To Silicon Valley: A Black Pioneer Gives Back". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  4. ↑ "Black Tech Week spotlights pioneers, rising stars". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2020-02-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barber, John T. (2006). The Black Digital Elite: African American Leaders of the Information Revolution. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   978-0-275-98504-2.
  6. ↑ "Hipot Testers". rodl.com. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  7. ↑ "MNIT Blog". Minnesota IT Services. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  8. ↑ Dremann, Sue. "Unsung pioneers of high tech". www.paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  9. 1 2 3 "Fully charged: Roy Clay, founder of ROD-L Electronics, keeps pushing for corporate responsibility (December 25, 2002)". www.almanacnews.com. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  10. ↑ admin (2016-02-05). "Black History Month Spotlight: Roy L. Clay Sr". Caribbean News. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  11. ↑ blackentrepreneurprofile.com. "Roy L. Clay, Sr". Black Entrepreneurs & Executives Profiles. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  12. ↑ "Silicon Valley Engineering Council – Hall of Fame". svec.herokuapp.com. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
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