USC names endowed scholarship for Black gaming pioneer Jerry Lawson

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May 10, 2021
USC fund honors Black engineer who changed video games

An oft-forgotten pioneer in video game history, Jerry Lawson, the Black engineer who helped kickstart home game consoles, is being honored with an academic endowment.

USC Games at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, announced Thursday it has established The Gerald A. Lawson Endowment Fund for Black and Indigenous Students, an initiative to increase minority representation in games and tech. Recipients will be known as Lawson Scholars.

Take-Two Interactive Software, maker of games such as "Grand Theft Auto V" and "Red Dead Redemption," made what the company described as "a very significant endowment" to create the fund.


Remembering a game changer
Lawson, an engineer and designer at Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp. in Silicon Valley, led a team that created a game system using Fairchild's F8 microprocessor and storing games on cartridges. "A lot of people in the industry swore that a microprocessor couldn’t be used in video games and I knew better," Lawson said during a speech at the 2005 Classic Gaming Expo in San Francisco viewable on YouTube.

The Fairchild Video Entertainment System, later named the Channel F (for "Fun"), began selling in 1976 – a year ahead of the Atari 2600 – establishing the concept of a console that could play an unlimited number of games. That foundation led to today's global video game market, which is projected to surpass $189 billion in 2021, according to research firm Newzoo.

“The endowment honors Mr. Lawson and helps Black and Indigenous students pursue their passions and careers in game design and allows us to also support one of the best academic programs in the United States,” Take-Two Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick told USA TODAY. “He never got the recognition that he deserved, but I’m very happy to play a small part in honoring his memory.”


In addition to helping more Black students and students of color enter the industry, the fund also likely results in more knowing Lawson's story and contribution.

Huntley said he only learned about Lawson 11 years ago while working at game publisher THQ. "I was shocked I had been doing marketing for 25 years and had never heard of him," he told USA TODAY. "The fact a Black innovator started and helped form the commercial video game industry, and I hadn’t heard of him, floored me."

The Lawson family – Catherine Lawson, daughter Karen, son Anderson and grandson Mason – said in a statement to USA TODAY: "We are humbled to know that his legacy will continue to inspire students, enrolled in the USC Games program, for generations to come. One of my father’s greatest dreams was to inspire young people to be curious about science and technology. This endowment champions his vision.”

Information about the Lawson Endowment Fund will be part of the USC Games Expo 2021, which streams live starting at 3 p.m. EDT/noon PDT on May 15. The show will feature over 70 games made entirely by students and teams who collaborated across the globe.

 

[get these nets]

DEC 1, 2022
Today’s interactive game Doodle celebrates the 82nd birthday of Gerald “Jerry” Lawson, one of the fathers of modern gaming who led the team that developed the first home video gaming system with interchangeable game cartridges. The Doodle features games designed by three American guest artists and game designers: Davionne Gooden, Lauren Brown, and Momo Pixel.

Lawson was born in Brooklyn, New York on this day in 1940. He tinkered with electronics from an early age, repairing televisions around his neighborhood and creating his own radio station using recycled parts. He attended Queens College and City College of New York before departing early to start his career in Palo Alto, California. At the time, the city and its surrounding region had become known as “Silicon Valley” due to the explosion of new, innovative tech companies starting up in the area.

Upon arriving in California, Lawson joined Fairchild Semiconductor as an engineering consultant. A few years later, Lawson was promoted to Director of Engineering and Marketing of Fairchild’s video game department where he led the development of the Fairchild Channel F system (the “F” stood for fun!). This was the first home video game system console that featured interchangeable game cartridges, an 8-way digital joystick and a pause menu. The Channel F paved the way for future gaming systems like the Atari, SNES, Dreamcast and more.

In 1980, Lawson left Fairchild to start his own company, VideoSoft—one of the earliest Black-owned video game development companies. The company created software for the Atari 2600, which popularized the cartridge Lawson and his team developed. Although they closed five years later, Lawson had solidified himself as a pioneer in the industry and continued to consult multiple engineering and video game companies throughout the rest of his career.

In 2011, the International Game Developers Association recognized Lawson as an industry trailblazer for his contributions to gaming. The University of Southern California also created the Gerald A. Lawson Fund to support underrepresented students who wish to pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees in game design or computer science. Lawson’s achievements are memorialized at the World Video Game Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York.

Here’s to you, Jerry!

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Special thanks to Jerry Lawson’s children, Anderson and Karen Lawson, for their collaboration on this project. Below they share their thoughts on today’s Doodle and their father’s legacy.

Gerald Anderson Lawson was an engineer, always curious, critical in his thinking, and logical in how he solved problems. He challenged us to extend beyond our limits and encouraged young people to pursue careers in science and technology.

As a child in the 1940’s, he was inspired by George Washington Carver. That inspiration provided the spark that ignited his desire to pursue a career in electronics. He loved what he did and did what he loved. Considering the obvious challenges for African-Americans at the time, his professional achievements were quite remarkable.

Due to a crash in the video game market, our father’s story became a footnote in video-game history. However, over the past few years, there have been numerous awards, scholarships, and media that have recognized him. Our family is eternally grateful to those who have worked tirelessly to bring his story to the public.

Today, we celebrate what would’ve been Dad’s 82nd birthday with the world. We would like to thank Google for working with us to share our father's story in this Doodle. May his story continue to inspire numerous young people around the globe to achieve something remarkable.

Dad, you were our provider, motivator, teacher, inventor, mentor and friend. We are incredibly proud of you and miss you. The planet knows your story and you will never be forgotten!

Happy Birthday, Pop! We love you!

Pictured: Gerald “Jerry” Lawson

Credit: The Lawson Family

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