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On June 16, a new exhibit, "Robert Noyce, A Life Celebrated," opened at the Intel Museum. The exhibit shares an interesting and personal view of Intel's co-founder, from his boyhood in Iowa to his role as
an industry statesman. Looking back at Robert (Bob) Noyce's life, you find a person who always held a strong sense
of optimism, adventure, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Here are a few highlights from the exhibit.
As a Boy in Iowa
Noyce was born on December 12, 1927, in Burlington, Iowa. Even as a boy,
he showed entrepreneurial tendencies, considering how to invent new devices such as a skate sharpener and a xylophone. Neighbors tell of his boyhood attempts to launch a home-built, 18-foot glider by tying it to a car bumper and jumping off the roof of his garage.
The Road to Higher Education
While still in high school, Noyce began taking physics classes at Grinnell College. He later attended and graduated from Grinnell with degrees in physics and math. Although he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors, he experienced a minor setback when expelled for a semester over a "pig incident." It seems that Noyce was involved in stealing a pig from a local farmer for a campus luau.
After making amends for the crime, Noyce went on to earn a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1953.
A Cutting-Edge Career
Bob Noyce co-founded Intel in 1968 with plans to design, manufacture, and market semiconductor memory chips. |
Noyce started his career at Philco in Philadelphia in 1953. After a few years,
he traveled west to California to work
for William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor. After a short time at Shockley Semiconductor, Noyce and seven
other employees left to form Fairchild Semiconductor in Mountain View, California.
In 1968 Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore left Fairchild and founded Intel with plans to design, manufacture, and market semiconductor memory chips.
Life as a Statesman
Noyce became less involved with day-to-day Intel operations and more involved with the semiconductor industry and the American economy in the late
1970s. He helped form the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), served on the boards of universities and corporations, and lobbied tirelessly for legislation to eliminate unfair trade practices and open foreign markets to U.S. products. Noyce passed away unexpectedly in 1990 from a sudden heart attack, but his work, enthusiasm, and contributions will continue to affect many generations to come.
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