July 18 marks the 57th anniversary of Intel’s incorporation—and as with any of the Silicon Valley juggernauts, the backstory of its founders is fascinating. Take Gordon Moore, who—along with Robert Noyce and Andy Grove—incorporated the microprocessor company in 1968 and served as Intel CEO from 1975 to 1987 and then as chairman until 1997. Learn the history in this edition of Pioneers in Tech.
Moore is well known for his leadership at Intel and the philanthropy of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, but he is most famous for Moore’s Law: the Silicon Valley axiom that every 18 months microprocessors will double in speed but decrease in size by half. Moore first shared his “law” in the April 19, 1965, issue of Electronics magazine. This insight drove explosive growth in the silicon chip industry and ultimately led to the creation of Silicon Valley.
Gordon Moore’s lasting legacy
Gordon Moore was born in 1929 in Pescadero, a small farming village on the San Francisco Peninsula. He met his future wife, Betty, while they were both undergraduates at what is now San Jose State University. However, Moore completed his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1954, he earned his doctorate in chemistry from Caltech. In 2001, the Moores made a personal donation of $300 million to Caltech along with a foundation gift of $300 million. At the time, the $600 million combined donation was the largest philanthropic gift in higher education.
Under Moore’s leadership, Intel made several smart moves that led it to market dominance, including a decision to keep its microprocessors backward-compatible so users didn’t lose their investments in previously purchased software, as well as the decision that Intel be the sole source of Intel 386 microprocessor. And don’t forget the “Intel Inside” marketing campaign, which made the company a household name.
Moore passed away March 24, 2023, at his family home in Hawaii.
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This post originally appeared on Smarter MSP.