Mark Dean is a prominent American inventor and computer engineer recognized for his significant contributions to the development of the personal computer (PC) at IBM. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1979, an MS from Florida Atlantic University in 1982, and a PhD from Stanford in 1992. This Black History Month, and we mark the occasion by shining the light on his pioneering contributions. By utilizing Dimensions, we’ve explored the rich data on the patents he has filed and been granted during his career, showcasing the lasting impact of his work.

Mark E. Dean : Photo credit  Shawn Poynter.

Joining IBM in 1980, Dean played a pivotal role in creating the first IBM PC in 1981, holding three of the nine patents for its original design (see the IBM webpage for more information). His innovations include the Color Graphics Adapter and the internal architecture that enabled PCs to connect to peripherals, as well as many other patents received during his IBM career. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1997 for a microcomputer system with bus control means for peripheral processing devices.  In 1999, he led the development of the world’s first gigahertz chip, capable of processing a billion calculations per second.

Figure 3: Data from Dimensions shows that Dean has contributed to over 300 patent filings throughout his career.

As he advanced through the ranks at IBM, Dean became Vice President and an IBM Fellow. He later took on leadership roles at the Almaden Research Center and served as Chief Technology Officer for IBM in the Middle East and Africa. Alongside his corporate achievements, Dean also became a professor at the University of Tennessee, where he was named interim dean of the Tickle College of Engineering in 2018. (Figure below with data on recent work).

Figures 4: Dean in his more recent research roles at  University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The patent data in Dimensions is provided by Digital Science portfolio company IFI CLAIMS. The focus of the patent data in Dimensions is to provide a downstream view on how research funding is impacting and enabling the commercial protection of intellectual property and the potential commercial use of research results. Do you want to learn more about how to use Dimensions data to understand the path from research to patents? Then don’t hesitate to contact the Dimensions team.