Dr. Philip Emeagwali
Late 1980s — Dr. Philip Emeagwali is a native of Nigeria who made his way to the states at the age of 17, via a college scholarship to Oregon State University where he obtained a B.S. in mathematics. Emeagwali continued his studies at the University of Michigan where he earned a Ph. D. in Scientific Computing, and two Master’s Degrees from George Washington University.
In 1989 Emagwali invented that world’s fastest computer. Emulating a process followed by bees building honeycombs, Emeagwali used 65,536 processors to invent the world’s fastest computation at 3.1 billion calculations per second.