Wang, An (1920–1990)

Chinese-born US engineer, founder in 1951 of Wang Laboratories, one of the world's largest computer companies in the 1970s. In 1948 he invented the computer memory core, the most common device used for storing computer data before the invention of the integrated circuit (chip).

Wang emigrated to the USA in 1945. He developed his own company with the $500,000 he received from IBM from the sale of his patent. One of his early contracts was the first electronic scoreboard, installed at New York's Shea Stadium. His company took off in 1964 with the introduction of a desktop calculator. Later, Wang switched with great success to the newly emerging market for word-processing systems based on cheap silicon chips, turning Wang Laboratories into a multibillion-dollar company. But with the advent of the personal computer, the company fell behind and had to seek protection from its creditors. It staged a comeback, doubling in size 1994–97 to achieve annual revenues of $1.3 billion.