This week marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of Robert Noyce, often called the “Mayor of Silicon Valley.” He got the name from not only his tech innovations, but also his tech culture innovations. Interestingly, his career path could have been felled by a pig—but more on that in a minute. Let’s dive into this month’s edition of Pioneers in Tech.
From Iowa to MIT
Born Dec. 12, 1927, Noyce grew up in Grinnell, Iowa. He earned his bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics at Grinnell College, where he also studied the first transistors. That experience inspired him to head to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a PhD in physics in 1953.
In 1956, after working three years as a research engineer in Philadelphia, he decided he wanted to work for William Shockley, one of the Nobel Prize-winning inventors of the transistor, at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Mountain View, California. In a single day, he flew his family to California, found a house for them to live in, and then went to Shockley to ask for a job.
Revolutionizing technology: Fairchild and Intel
Noyce’s happiness at Shockley was short-lived. In 1957, he led a group of eight employees in rebelling against William Shockley. Eventually, the group left to form Fairchild Semiconductor. In July 159 at Fairchild, Noyce invented an integrated circuit made out of silicon and revolutionized the computer industry. He and Jack Kilby, who had invented a similar integrated circuit six months earlier than Noyce at Texas Instruments, share credit for its invention.
In 1968, Noyce and Gordon Moore (the namesake of “Moore’s Law”) left Fairchild to found Intel, where they defined Silicon Valley with both the invention of the microprocessor and further evolution of their egalitarian approach to corporate culture. Noyce fostered a relaxed atmosphere, where everyone had a cubicle, parking spaces weren’t assigned, and stock options were the norm.
A fresh approach probably shouldn’t a surprise coming from a guy who nearly faced felony charges. He eventually was expelled from Grinnell because he stole a pig from a farmer for a luau. To the world’s benefit, Noyce’s physics teacher at Grinnell, Grant Gale, was able to call in some favors and lessen the punishment to a one-semester suspension.
Noyce passed away in 1990.
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Photo: jejim / Shutterstock
This post originally appeared on Smarter MSP.