Celebrating Black History Month

One of the three black students who integrated Tech on Sept. 18, 1961, Ford Greene grew up in Atlanta, the son of an elementary school principal and a professor at Morris Brown College.

After leaving Tech during his sophomore year, he transferred to Morgan State University in Maryland, graduating with a degree in computer science. He spent the next 27 years with IBM, mostly working abroad in Europe and South America.

Greene currently lives in New York, where he serves as a consultant for Frontier Telephone of Rochester, a company of which he was formerly president, and also does technology consulting for a venture capital firm. He recently spoke to the 'Nique over the phone about his Tech experience.

How did you end up coming to Tech?

We came from the same high school...267 of us applied to Georgia Tech, and initially I was selected. I have to tell you that I was an overachiever...I was valedictorian of my class, had a 4.0+, had the highest math SAT, was president of the honor society, played in the concert band, played football, tennis and ran track.

Were you excited, or apprehensive, when all of this was going on?

I was excited because I had always loved math and science and engineering, and [Tech] was the best school, certainly one of the top three in the country at the time in those disciplines. But at the same time, I was obviously apprehensive, primarily based on the history with the University of Georgia.

Was your family worried?

To some extent. But.the first thing that happened was that the president called a meeting of all the faculty and staff and made it perfectly clear that he would not tolerate any events that resembled the University of Georgia debacle. He pretty much laid down the law.

The other thing that got my parents-and me-comfortable was that Dean Dull [then the dean of students] arranged a series of family dinners...I think [this] was probably very instrumental in diffusing any potential problems, and I know that made my parents much more comfortable.

Did you get to know Ralph Long and Lawrence Williams very well?

Ralph Long and I had been classmates forever. Lawrence Williams went to a rival high school. Dean Dull...felt that being alone was not a good idea for several reasons; he felt I needed someone to kind of tag along with, go to class with, and more importantly, study with.

We all lived at home. Ralph Long had a Renault... and he would pick me and Lawrence up, and we all three would come to campus in his little French car.

What were some other experiences you remember?

One thing that sticks out in my mind is my algebra class first quarter. We had a test after the first week, and when the professor came in the day after the test, he was crying. We thought he had had a death in the family, but he chastised the rest of the class for allowing me to make the highest score on the test-I guess it really offended him. That was about as overt an act that showed that there was some resentment. But other than that, people either left us alone or befriended us.

Was there a sense of isolation?

With the large number of people, the number of people who truly befriended us was small...one of the things that helped me was that I tried out for and successfully made the [ROTC] drill team. So they embraced me, and ROTC was probably the place where I had the greatest successes.

You left when the institution refused to let you play on the football team.

Or anything else, for that matter. The track coach, Joe Claxico-at the time we attended, the SEC record in the 100-yard dash was 10.6 seconds. In my gym class, I was repeatedly running 10.0...and that was fooling around. So Coach Claxico was very interested in me running track, if nothing else. But not only would they not let us play football, but they also wouldn't let me run track.

Even though the coach wanted you to be on the team?

Yeah-he saw dreams of conference championships. I think, in fact, he was more disappointed and hurt than I was.

What did you major in at Tech?

I mistakenly majored in ChemE. But I'm a big proponent of the co-op system, because not only does it prepare you for your career, but in my case, it taught me that I needed to change majors.

How often do you visit?

Probably once a year. My sister and nephew live in Atlanta, so I come to visit, and whenever I come I still try to get on campus.

So you've seen the campus change over the years.

Oh, absolutely. We were there in 1991, which was the 30th anniversary, and I gave a brief speech. Then we were there once again in 2001 and had some seminars. Those were the only formal activities, but other than that I just visit campus and marvel at how far it's come in 40 years.

Do you have any words of wisdom for African-American students?

Well, it wasn't the most pleasant experience, but it wasn't the worst one that I've had, either.

You mean enrolling at Tech?

Yes, I got drafted and sent to Vietnam, so that was the probably the worst one, but...[Tech] prepared me, I think, for my integration into the majority of society. I still have some great friends, like one guy that was a great protector of mine, Chick Granning-that's a whole story in and of itself; he was a big man on campus, football star.

When you grow up in a predominantly African-American community, and you're trying to set forth on a career where it is truly multicultural, I think the Georgia Tech experience really did prepare me for the success that I had at IBM in particular.

I would encourage African-American students to avail themselves of getting to know as many people, and as many different kinds of people, as possible. It really enriches your life and makes you a better person. The same is true for everyone else who is there-I know Georgia Tech now is so multicultural that, you know, it's like the United Nations.

Can you tell me the story about Chick?

The only reason I bring Chick up is that of all the people who did befriend me, and all the people who acted as a protector occasionally, Chick, who was from Mississippi, was the most consistent and the most forceful defender. And during the '60s, coming from Mississippi, it was the last thing you'd expect. But he was absolutely just a great guy.