Robert Noyce

Life & Legacy

Robert Norton Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", was an American physicist and entrepreneur who co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968. He was also credited with the realization of the first monolithic integrated circuit or microchip made with silicon, which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name.
Noyce founded The Noyce School of Applied Computing within the College of Engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Technology, and in 1989, he was inducted into the U.S. Business Hall of Fame, with President George H. W. Bush delivering the keynote. In 1990, he received a Lifetime Achievement Medal alongside Jack Kilby and John Bardeen during the bicentennial celebration of the Patent Act.