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His
Legacy Shaped the Modern World
DALLAS (June 21, 2005) – Jack St. Clair Kilby, retired TI engineer
and inventor of the integrated circuit, died yesterday in Dallas following
a brief battle with cancer. He was 81.
Mr. Kilby invented the first monolithic integrated circuit, which laid
the foundation for the field of modern microelectronics, moving the industry
into a world of miniaturization and integration that continues today.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his role in the
invention of the integrated circuit.
“In my opinion, there are only a handful of people whose works have
truly transformed the world and the way we live in it – Henry Ford,
Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers and Jack Kilby,” said TI Chairman
Tom Engibous. “If there was ever a seminal invention that transformed
not only our industry but our world, it was Jack’s invention of
the first integrated circuit.”
A man of few words, Mr. Kilby is remembered fondly by friends and associates
for being in every sense of the word a gentleman and a gentle man. At
6 foot 6 inches in height, he was occasionally called the “gentle
giant” in the press.
“Ever practical and low-key, with good humor and quiet grace, Jack
was a man with every right to be boastful, yet never was,” said
Mr. Engibous. Mr. Kilby was always quick to credit the thousands of engineers
who followed him for their impact on growing the industry and changing
the world. “For those of us who were fortunate enough to have known
him, it’s that dual legacy for which I personally will always feel
privileged to have known Jack – not only the quality of what he
did, but the quality of who he was,” said Mr. Engibous.
Early
Interest in Electronics
Mr. Kilby knew he wanted to be an engineer relatively early in life. When
he was in high school, his father ran a small power company with customers
scattered across the rural western part of Kansas. When a severe ice storm
downed telephone and power lines, Mr. Kilby’s father worked with
amateur radio operators to communicate with his customers. This event
triggered the younger Kilby’s lifelong fascination with electronics.
He pursued that interest at the University of Illinois. World War II interrupted
his studies, when Mr. Kilby joined the Army. Following the war, he returned
to the University of Illinois, completing his bachelor’s degree
in electrical engineering in 1947. Upon graduation, he took a position
with Centralab in Milwaukee, where he first worked with transistors, the
building blocks for integrated circuits. While at Centralab, he pursued
graduate studies in electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin
and received a master’s degree in 1950.
Creating
the Future
Mr. Kilby moved to Dallas in 1958 to work for TI. As a new employee that
summer, he was not yet entitled to the mass August vacation that was customary
among TI employees at the time. It was in this relatively quiet time that
the idea of the integrated circuit first came to Mr. Kilby.
“I was sitting at a desk, probably stayed there a little longer
than usual,” he recalled in a 1980 interview. “Most of it
formed pretty clearly during the course of that day. When I was finished,
I had some drawings in a notebook, which I showed my supervisor when he
returned. There was some slight skepticism, but basically they realized
its importance.”
Mr. Kilby and TI officials put the circuit to the test September 12, 1958.
It worked, and his invention transformed the industry. In 1960, the company
announced the first chips for customer evaluation. Two years later, TI
won its first major integrated circuit contract to design and build a
family of 22 special circuits for the Minuteman missile. The integrated
circuit remains at the heart of all electronics today.
His
Work Continues
Mr. Kilby held several engineering management positions at TI between
1960 and 1968, when he was named assistant vice president. In 1970, he
became director of engineering and technology for the Components Group
before taking a leave of absence to become an independent consultant.
Mr. Kilby officially retired from TI in 1983, but he continued to do consulting
work with TI. He maintained a significant relationship with the company
until his death.
“Jack was one of the true pioneers of the semiconductor industry,”
said TI President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Templeton. “Every
engineer, myself included, owes no small part of their livelihood to the
work Jack Kilby did here at Texas Instruments. We will miss him.”
In addition to his TI career, Mr. Kilby held the rank of Distinguished
Professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University from 1978
to 1984. In 1990, he lent his name to The Kilby Awards Foundation, which
commemorates “the power of one individual to make a significant
impact on society.” Its international awards program honors exceptional
individuals for their contributions to society through science, technology,
innovation, invention and education.
Recognizing
His Contributions
Mr. Kilby considered himself first and foremost an engineer, a profession
he viewed as transforming ideas into practical realities. He held more
than 60 patents for a variety of electronics inventions. Among these were
the handheld electronic calculator and the thermal printer, both of which
he co-invented.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Mr. Kilby received numerous honors and
awards for his contributions to science, technology and the electronics
industry. He is one of only 13 Americans to receive both the National
Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology, the highest technical
awards given by the U.S. government. In 1993, he was awarded the Kyoto
Prize in Advanced Technology. Mr. Kilby also received the first international
Charles Stark Draper Prize, the world’s top engineering award, from
the National Academy of Engineering in 1989. In addition, he is honored
in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s National Inventors Hall
of Fame, celebrating individuals whose ideas have changed the world.
Mr. Kilby was the recipient of honorary degrees from several institutions
of higher learning including the University of Miami, the Rochester Institute
of Technology, the University of Illinois, Southern Methodist University,
Texas A&M University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
(For a more complete listing of his honors and awards, see http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/kilby.shtml#honors
)
Family
and Friends
Mr. Kilby leaves his family – daughters Janet Kilby Cameron of Palisade,
Colorado, and Ann Kilby of Austin, Texas; five granddaughters, Caitlan,
Marcy and Gwen Cameron of Palisade, Colorado, and Erica and Katrina (Katie)
Venhuizen of Austin; and son-in-law Thomas Cameron – and friends,
colleagues and admirers throughout the company, the industry and the world.
His wife, Barbara Annegers Kilby, and sister, Jane Kilby, preceded him
in death.
More information will be posted on the TI web site (www.ti.com/kilby)
as arrangements are finalized by the family.
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Texas Instruments
Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our
customers’ real world signal processing requirements. In addition
to Semiconductor, the company’s businesses include Sensors &
Controls and Education Technology. TI is headquartered
in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in
more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments
is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information
is located on the World Wide Web at www.ti.com.
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