After receiving her doctorate from the University of Southern California in 1982, Marian Croak joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, where she stayed for 30 years. Her work on digital telecommunications led to the development of Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP) technology, converting voice data into digital signals that can be easily transmitted over the internet. While at AT&T, she also patented the technology for text-to-donate systems, which she developed during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Croak is one of the first two Black women to be inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame. In 2014 she joined Google, where she is responsible for increasing access to the internet in developing countries.
Learn more at the National Inventors Hall of Fame.