Computer Science Emeritus Research Professor Jack Dongarra has been named to the Forbes Self-Made 250 list, which salutes the men and women who best embody the grit, hustle, and resilience of the American Dream.

Dongarra is No. 236 among the greatest living self-made Americans. The list, which Forbes revealed on Thursday, includes celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Dolly Parton, politicians like Bill Clinton and J.D. Vance, athletes like LeBron James and Magic Johnson, and numerous business moguls, scientists, and industry titans.

Dongarra was described by Forbes as “the pioneering computer scientist born to an immigrant father with little education. Dongarra also overcame dyslexia as a child.”

According to Forbes, the selections are all “quintessential American stories of upward mobility: rags to riches billionaires, entrepreneurs, entertainers and others whose wealth is measured in influence and impact, not just dollar signs. Along the way, you have created more than 1.8 million jobs, raised standards of living in your communities and given back philanthropically.”

Dongarra has been a member of the computer science faculty at the University of Tennessee for 36 years. He established the Innovative Computing Lab (ICL) on campus in 1989 when he accepted a dual appointment as a distinguished professor at UT and a distinguished scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Among his numerous honors, Dongarra received the A.M. Turing Award, which is often described as the “Nobel Prize of computing,” in 2021.

Contact

Rhiannon Potkey (rpotkey@utk.edu)