In 1961, Ford C. Greene, Ralph A. Long Jr., and Lawrence Williams became the first Black students at Georgia Tech. With the admission of these three young men, the Georgia Institute of Technology became the first public university in the Deep South to achieve integration without a court order. These three engineering students set Georgia Tech on a path that has now led the institution to be the number one school for African American engineers.
Ford C. Greene
Mr. Greene studied chemical engineering at Georgia Tech and received his BS in Computer Science and Mathematics from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. He completed post-graduate courses at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and at Johns Hopkins University. He is an acknowledged wireless communication industry leader, having served as a keynote speaker for both industry conferences and the Federal Communications Commission.
He is currently an independent management and telecommunications consultant assisting small cable companies to implement data and voice strategies. Prior to being named president of Frontier Telephone of Rochester, Mr. Greene was founder and president of United Communications Systems International, Inc. a minority-owned telecommunications company that built and is currently operating a broadband fiber and wireless data network in Ghana, West Africa.
Mr. Greene has more than twenty-five years of extensive experience in design and deployment of terrestrial broadband data, microwave, satellite, and information technology systems in the public and private sectors. He has testified at Congressional hearings on behalf of minority and women-owned businesses in telecommunications and continues to be active in regulatory and legislative activities. He currently resides with his wife in Webster, NY.
Ralph A. Long Jr.
Mr. Long is currently president of uiConcepts Corporation, a high-tech company that focuses on the development of innovative user interfaces, using sensory positional systems, integrated with wireless technology and enterprise data management to produce animated video and internet information portals.
He began his career as a system engineer at IBM in Atlanta and advanced his career through data processing positions in Atlanta and New jersey. In 1992, Mr. Long became the vice president of Product Development and Marketing for MicroTech Industries Ltd. in Atlanta and assumed responsibility for product and long-term strategic development of the high-tech electronics and computer integration company. Prior to his current position, Mr. Long was manager of IT application and enterprise data management for the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in Atlanta. He is a resident of Atlanta.
Lawrence Williams
After attending Georgia Tech for several years, Mr. Williams was drafted into the Air Force in 1967 and served honorably in the Vietnam war. During his service he earned several distinctions and honors. He was selected for the Drum and Bugle Corp in basic training and then chosen for leadership training school where he graduated at the top of his class.
While at Georgia Tech, Mr. Williams studied electrical engineering but always had a passion for aeronautics. Mr. Williams made a successful career in the military and since retiring has traveled the world lecturing on aerospace and aviation. Retirement has provided him with the opportunity to assist his elderly mother, volunteer at his church and in the community, and assist with the Aviation Cadet program at the Atlanta airport. This program provides leadership, emulates military customs, and provides information about aviation to more than ninety students ranging in age from 12 to 21.