Likes UP: Microchip ‘Mayor of Silicon Valley’ Honored

Likes UP: Microchip ‘Mayor of Silicon Valley’ Honored

 

The fastest way to capture the attention of millions of people is to have a Google Doodle that sparks the imagination.   These are so popular you can purchase T-shirts with your favorite Google Doodle.   The Google homepage has made the surprise of a new Google Doodle fun and educational.

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ROBERT NOYCE co-inventor of the integrated circuit.

Robert Norton Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed “the Mayor of Silicon Valley“, co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968. He is also credited (along with Jack Kilby) with the invention of the integrated circuit or microchip which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name.[1][nb 1] Noyce was also a mentor and father-figure to an entire generation of entrepreneurs.

He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in physics and mathematics from Grinnell College in 1949. He also received a signal honor from his classmates: the Brown Derby Prize, which recognized “the senior man who earned the best grades with the least amount of work”. He received his doctorate in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953.

Noyce became the general manager of the Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and while there invented the integrated chip — a chip of silicon with many transistors all etched into it at once. That was the first time he revolutionized the semiconductor industry.  He stayed with Fairchild until 1968, when he left with Gordon Moore to found Intel.  At Intel he oversaw Ted Hoff’s invention of the microprocessor.

In July, 1959, he filed for U.S. Patent 2,981,877 “Semiconductor Device and Lead Structure”, a type of integrated circuit. This independent effort was recorded only a few months after the key findings of inventor Jack Kilby. For his co-invention of the integrated circuit and its world-transforming impact, three presidents of the United States honored him.

Noyce was a holder of many honors and awards. President Ronald Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Technology in 1987. Two years later, he was inducted into theU.S. Business Hall of Fame. President George H. W. Bush presented the award, sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering in a black tie ceremony held at the State Department. In 1990 Noyce – along with, among others, Jack Kilby and transistor inventor John Bardeen – received a “Lifetime Achievement Medal” during the bicentennial celebration of the Patent Act.

Noyce received the Franklin Institute’s Stuart Ballantine Medal in 1966.[28] He was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1978 “for his contributions to the silicon integrated circuit, a cornerstone of modern electronics.”[29][30] In 1979, he was awarded the National Medal of Science. Noyce was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1980.[31] The National Academy of Engineering awarded him its 1989 Charles Stark Draper Prize.[32]

The science building at his alma mater, Grinnell College, is named after him.

“With his strong face, his athlete’s build, and the Gary Cooper manner, Bob Noyce projected what psychologists call the halo effect.  People with the halo effect seem to know exactly what they’re doing and moreover make you want to admire them for it.  They make you see the halos over their heads.”  — Tom Wolfe. “The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce: How the Sun Rose on the Silicon Valley.”

The Liking Halo Effect give the late Bob Noyce a special admiration and he used the open atmosphere and created a culture of accomplishment that allowed bright employees phenomenal room to accomplish what they desired.  Noyce, forward- thinking, likable, coupled with his liking halo, launched the way to the microprocessors in today’s computers.

Thank you, Bob Noyce!

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#Likes UP- Bob Noyce, co-inventor of the integrated circuit for micro-processing

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