5 notable passings in the tech community during 2012

5 notable passings in the tech community during 2012

A brief re-cap of some of the names the technology community lost last year

BY CHIDI NWOSU

While this past year was a year we saw many breakthroughs in technology, the industry also suffered many heartbreaks, as several notable figures in the community passed away.

The following are five people we lost in 2012, each of whom made their own major contribution to the technology of their time.

Neil Armstrong

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As a global icon, Neil Armstrong would be forever known for not only being the first man on the moon but for his famous quote, “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” On their black and white screens, 600 million people witnessed Armstrong’s phenomenal moment on the moon. The soft-spoken engineer commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, where Armstrong and his partner astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, spent over three hours collecting samples and taking photographs to be studied back at the NASA station. Armstrong died at age 82 on August 27, 2012. According to family members, Armstrong died from heart surgery complications.

Sally Ride

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Sally Ride is known for being the first American female and youngest person to ever go into space. Although Ride graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics as well as a master’s and doctorate in astrophysics, all from Stanford University, she was not entirely clear on why she was recruited for the astronaut position. Ride actually answering a newspaper ad when she became one of the 35 chosen from 8,300 applicants. On June 18, 1983, Ride reached her destiny by boarding the shuttle, Challenger, which had a robotic arm that she contributed to. The arm was used to deploy and retrieve satellites. Ride boarded the Challenger again on October 5, 1984, using the arm this time to maintain the shuttle’s exterior. Ride died on July 22, 2012 at age of 61 following a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Ray Bradbury

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Ray Bradbury was a well-known author of over 50 stories and books in genres such as science fiction, horror, mystery, and fantasy. His best known novel was titled Fahrenheit 451. The book was based on a study of the future American society where critical thinking was outlawed. Bradbury often characterized himself as a fantasy writer than he did a science fiction writer, even though most of his books were often in that genre. His first major work, The Martian Chronicles, was published in 1950. The literature depicted the human colonization of Mars and the encounter with the current inhabitants. Three years later, Fahrenheit 451 was published. Bradbury explains the book as a story of how television drives people away from reading. Bradbury won many honors and awards, including the National Medal of Arts, presented by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, in 2004. Bradbury passed away on June 5, 2012, at age 91.

Carroll Shelby

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Who would have thought that the world’s worst chicken farmer would become one of America’s automotive legendary icons? Carroll Shelby was known for designing a number of high-performance machines as well as Shelby Cobras and Mustangs. He is best known for placing the powerful Ford V-8 engines into British roadsters. With this combination, he began building race cars for Ford. Shelby became the second American citizen to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an endurance race in France, in 1959. Due to his heart condition, he established Shelby American in 1962 after giving up his racing career. Within the same year, construction of Shelby Cobras began. In 1964, Ford introduced the Mustang. Wanting a high-performance racing version, Ford asked Shelby to contribute in the development process. In January 1965, the Shelby Mustang was born thus expanding the Shelby industry. Shelby died from pneumonia on May 10, 2012 in Dallas, Texas.

Joseph Murray

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What was once considered to be science fiction was made a reality thanks to this man. Joseph Murray performed the first kidney transplant on Dec. 23, 1954 for which he was awarded the Noble prize in Medicine in 1990. In Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Murray took a healthy kidney from a patient named Ronald Herrick and implanted it in his twin brother, Richard Herrick. This procedure opened doors to other possible transplants. Murray is also known for being the first to use organs from a corpse and to perform another kidney transplant between fraternal siblings. Murray lived to the age of 93. He died of a stroke on Nov. 22, 2012. ■