As an electrical engineer, I learned about the importance of resistors in any electric circuit.  A resistor is a crucial electronics component that impedes the flow of electrical current.  
When it came to resistors, Otis F. Boykin really knew his stuff.  He patented a type of resistor in 1959 that is still used today in radios, televisions and computers.

This famous African-American inventor also created the control unit for pacemakers.which has helped to save and lengthen the lives of thousands of men and women around the world

Sadly, Boykin died of heart failure in Chicago in 1982. Over the course of his career he earned 11 patents total, his first issued in 1959, his last in 1985.