Robert Noyce Biography
Robert Noyce was born on December 12 1927 in Burlington, Iowa. He died on June 3 1990 in Austin, Texas.
In 1949, Noyce received his B.A. from Grinnell College in Iowa. In 1953, he received his Ph.D. in physical electronics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Robert Noyce worked as a researcher for Philco Corporation until 1956, when Noyce started working for the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Palo
Bob Noyce's nickname was the "Mayor of Silicon Valley." He was one of the very first scientists to work in the area -- long before the stretch of California had earned the Silicon name -- and he ran two of the companies that had the greatest impact on the silicon industry: Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.
He also invented the integrated chip, one of the stepping stones along the way to the microprocessors in today's computers.
Noyce, the son of a preacher, grew up in Grinnell, Iowa. He was a physics major at Grinnell College, and exhibited while there an almost baffling amount of confidence. He was always the leader of the crowd.
This could turn against him occasionally -- the local farmers didn't approve of him and weren't likely to forgive quickly when he did something like steal a pig for a college luau.
The prank nearly got Noyce expelled, even though the only reason the farmer knew about it was because Noyce had confessed and offered to pay for it.
While in college, Noyce's physics professor Grant Gale got hold of two of the very first transistors ever to come out of Bell Labs. Gale showed them off to his class and Noyce was hooked.
The field was young, though, so when Noyce went to MIT in 1948 for his Ph.D., he found he knew more about transistors than many of his professors.
Robert Noyce Inventions & Honors
In 1957, Robert Noyce co-founded the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation.
In 1968, Noyce co-founded the Intel Corporation with Gordon Moore.
Robert Noyce was the co-recipient of the Stuart Ballantine medal from the Franklin Institute for his development of integrated circuits.
The integrated circuit otherwise known as "The Chip" was invented by both Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce
In 1978, he was a co-recipient of the Cledo Brunetti Award for the integrated circuit. In 1978, he received the IEEE Medal of Honor.
In his honor, the IEEE established the Robert N. Noyce Medal for exceptional contributions to the microelectronics industry
According to his IEEE biography, "Robert Noyce holds 16 patents on semiconductor methods, devices and structures, including applications of photoengraving to semiconductors, and diffused- junction isolation for IC's. He also holds the basic patent relating to metal interconnect schemes."
Robert Noyce Picture Gallery
