Robert Noyce Credit: invent.org

Robert and Noyce, co-founder of Intel Corp., was one of the pioneers of semiconductor development.

He received a B.A. from Grinnell College (Iowa) in 1949 and a Ph.D. in physical of products from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953. HE then conducted research at Philco Corp. until 1956, when he joined the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Palo Alto, CA, to work on transistor technology.

In 1957 Noyce co-founded the Fairchild Semiconductor Corp. in Mountain View, CA. He was research director until early 1959 when he became vice president and general manager. As research director of Fairchild semiconductor, he was responsible for initial development of transistors for mass production. On April 25, 1960, Dr. Noyce was granted a patent for his invention of a " Semiconductor Device-and-Lead Structure." This discovery made the microchip possible and launched a modern electronics revolution with the development of his Integrated Circuit. In July 1968 he co-founded Intel Corp. with Gordon E. Moore, who had also been a Co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and a member of the Shockley laboratory staff. Noyce served as president of Intel until 1975 and chairman of the board from 1975 to 1979.

Dr. Noyce has 16 patents for semiconductor devices, methods, and structures. He has received the National Medal of Science from President Carter in 1980, The National Medal of Technology from President Reagan in 1987, and the Charles Draper Prize of the National Academy of Engineering in 1990. Grinnell College's computer center was named in his honor in 1984.