Gordon Moore

For other people named Gordon Moore, see Gordon Moore (disambiguation).

Gordon Earle Moore (January 3, 1929 – March 24, 2023) was an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and emeritus chairman of Intel Corporation. He proposed Moore's law, the observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Gordon Moore
Moore in 2004
Born	Gordon Earle Moore (1929-01-03)January 3, 1929 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	March 24, 2023(2023-03-24) (aged 94) Waimea, Hawaii, U.S.
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BS, chemistry) California Institute of Technology (PhD, chemistry)
Known for	Intel Moore's law Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Awards	National Medal of Technology (1990) John Fritz Medal (1993) IEEE Founders Medal (1997) Computer History Museum Fellow (1998)^[1] Othmer Gold Medal (2001) Perkin Medal (2004)^[2] Nierenberg Prize (2006) IEEE Medal of Honor (2008) Presidential Medal of Freedom
Scientific career
Fields	Entrepreneur Electrical engineering
Institutions	Intel Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation California Institute of Technology Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Thesis	I. Infrared Studies of Nitrous Acid, The Chloramines and Nitrogen Dioxide II. Observations Concerning the Photochemical Decomposition of Nitric Oxide (1954)

External video
"Rather than becoming something that chronicled the progress of the industry, it became something that drove it.", ASML's 'Our Stories', Gordon Moore about Moore's Law, ASML Holding

External video
"This powerful technology has allowed us to make more and more complex and high-performing circuits... They're the basis of everything electronic we have, unprecedented in human history.", Scientists You Must Know: Intel founder Gordon Moore, Science History Institute

As of February 2023, Moore's net worth was reported to be $7 billion.^[8]

Education

Moore was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in nearby Pescadero, where his father was the county sheriff. He attended San José State University for two years^[9] before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1950.^[10]

In September 1950, Moore enrolled at the California Institute of Technology ("Caltech").^[11] While at Caltech, Moore minored in physics and received a PhD in chemistry in 1954.^[12][10][13] Moore conducted postdoctoral research at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University from 1953 to 1956.^[10]

Scientific career

Fairchild Semiconductor Laboratory

Main article: Traitorous eight

Moore joined MIT and Caltech alumnus William Shockley at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory division of Beckman Instruments, but left with the "traitorous eight," when Sherman Fairchild agreed to back them and created the influential Fairchild Semiconductor corporation.^[14][15]

Moore's law

Main article: Moore's law

In 1965, Moore was working as the director of research and development (R&D) at Fairchild Semiconductor. He was asked by Electronics Magazine to predict what was going to happen in the semiconductor components industry over the next ten years. In an article published on April 19, 1965, Moore observed that the number of components (transistors, resistors, diodes, or capacitors)^[16] in a dense integrated circuit had doubled approximately every year and speculated that it would continue to do so for at least the next ten years. In 1975, he revised the forecast rate to approximately every two years.^[17] Carver Mead popularized the phrase "Moore's law". The prediction has become a target for miniaturization in the semiconductor industry and has had widespread impact in many areas of technological change.^[3][15]

Intel Corporation

Main article: Intel

In July 1968, Robert Noyce and Moore founded NM Electronics, which later became Intel Corporation.^[18][19] Moore served as executive vice president until 1975 when he became president. In April 1979, Moore became chairman and chief executive officer, holding that position until April 1987, when he became chairman. He was named chairman emeritus in 1997.^[20] Under Noyce, Moore, and later Andrew Grove, Intel has pioneered new technologies in the areas of computer memory, integrated circuits, and microprocessor design.^[19] On April 11, 2022, Intel renamed its main Oregon site, the Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro, Gordon Moore Park, and the building formerly known as RA4, Moore Center, after their founder.^[21]

Philanthropy

In 2000, Moore and his wife established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, with a gift worth about $5 billion. Through the foundation, they initially targeted environmental conservation, science, and the San Francisco Bay Area.^[22]

The foundation gives extensively in the area of environmental conservation, supporting major projects in the Andes–Amazon Basin^{[definition needed]} and the San Francisco Bay area, among others.^[23] Moore was a director of Conservation International for some years. In 2002, he and Conservation International senior vice president Claude Gascon received the Order of the Golden Ark from Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld for their outstanding contributions to nature conservation.^[24]

Moore had been a member of Caltech's board of trustees since 1983, chairing it from 1993 to 2000, and was a life trustee at the time of his death.^[25][26][27] In 2001, Moore and his wife donated $600 million to Caltech, at the time the largest gift ever to an institution of higher education.^[28] He said he wanted the gift to be used to keep Caltech at the forefront of research and technology.^[22]

In December 2007, Moore and his wife donated $200 million to Caltech and the University of California for the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), expected to become the world's second largest optical telescope once it and the European Extremely Large Telescope are completed in the mid-2020s. The TMT will have a segmented mirror 30 meters across and be built on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. This mirror will be nearly three times the size of the current record holder, the Large Binocular Telescope.^[29]

The Moores, as individuals and through their foundation, have also, in a series of gifts and grants beginning in the 1990s, given some $166 million to the University of California, Berkeley to fund initiatives ranging from materials science and physics to genomics and data science.^[30][31][32]

In addition, through the foundation, his wife created the Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative, targeting nursing care in the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Sacramento.^[22][33] In 2007, the foundation pledged $100 million over 11 years to establish a nursing school at the University of California, Davis.^[30] The Moores have also been long-time benefactors of other Northern California institutions, including Stanford University (over $190 million as of 2022), University of California, San Francisco, and University of California, Santa Cruz.^[30]

In 2009, the Moores received the Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.^[22][34]

Scientific awards and honors

Moore received many honors. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1976 for contributions to semiconductor devices from transistors to microprocessors.^[35]

In 1990, Moore was presented with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President George H. W. Bush, "for his seminal leadership in bringing American industry the two major postwar innovations in microelectronics – large-scale integrated memory and the microprocessor – that have fueled the information revolution".^[36]

In 1998, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Computer History Museum "for his fundamental early work in the design and production of semiconductor devices as co-founder of Fairchild and Intel".^[37]

In 2001, Moore received the Othmer Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to progress in chemistry and science.^[38][39] Moore was also the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, as of 2002.^[40] He received the award from President George W. Bush. In 2002, Moore also received the Bower Award for Business Leadership.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2005.^[41]

Moore was awarded the 2008 IEEE Medal of Honor for "pioneering technical roles in integrated-circuit processing, and leadership in the development of MOS memory, the microprocessor computer, and the semiconductor industry".^[42] Moore was featured in the documentary film Something Ventured which premiered in 2011.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, Moore was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He was awarded the 2010 Dan David Prize for his work in the areas of Computers and Telecommunications.^[43]

The library at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge is named after him and his wife Betty,^[44] as are the Moore Laboratories building (dedicated 1996) at Caltech and the Gordon and Betty Moore Materials Research Building at Stanford. The Electrochemical Society presents an award in Moore's name, the Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology, every two years to celebrate scientists' contributions to the field of solid state science.^[45] The Society of Chemical Industry (American Section) annually presents the Gordon E. Moore Medal in his honor to recognize early career success in innovation in the chemical industries.^[46][47]

Moore was awarded the UCSF medal in 2016.^[48]

 

Moore on a fishing trip in 2004

Personal life

Moore met his wife, Betty Irene Whitaker, while attending San Jose State College.^[11] They married in 1950 and had two sons, Steven and Kenneth.^[49]

Moore was an avid sport fisherman and actively pursued any type of fishing. He extensively traveled the world, catching species from black marlin to rainbow trout. He said his conservation efforts were partly inspired by his interest in fishing and his time spent outdoors.^[50]

In 2011, Moore's genome was the first human genome sequenced on Ion Torrent's Personal Genome Machine platform, a massively parallel sequencing device, which uses ISFET biosensors.^[51]

Moore died at his home in Hawaii on March 24, 2023, at the age of 94.^[52]

References

1. . Computer History Museum. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
2. "SCI Perkin Medal". Science History Institute. May 31, 2016. from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
3. Moore, Gordon (April 19, 1965). "Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits". Electronics Magazine. 38 (8): 114–117.
4. Moore, Gordon (January 1998). "Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits (Reprint)" (PDF). Proceedings of the IEEE. 86 (1): 82–85. doi:10.1109/jproc.1998.658762. S2CID 6519532. (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
5. Gordon E. Moore at DBLP Bibliography Server  
6. Gordon Moore author profile page at the ACM Digital Library
7. Moore, G. E. (1997). "The microprocessor: Engine of the technology revolution". Communications of the ACM. 40 (2): 112–114. doi:10.1145/253671.253746. S2CID 74187.
8. "Gordon Moore". Forbes. from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
9. "Scientists You Must Know: Gordon E. Moore". Science History Institute. June 2016. from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
10. Brock, David C.; Lécuyer, Christophe (January 20, 2006). Gordon E. Moore and Jay T. Last, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by David C. Brock and Christophe Lécuyer at Woodside, California on 20 January 2006 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation. (PDF) from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
11. Dodson, Vannessa. . Campaign Update (Fall 2003). Archived from the original on August 16, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
12. Moore, Gordon Earle (1954). I. Infrared Studies of Nitrous Acid, The Chloramines and Nitrogen Dioxide II. Observations Concerning the Photochemical Decomposition of Nitric Oxide (PhD thesis). California Institute of Technology. ProQuest 302028299.
13. "California Institute of Technology Sixtieth Annual Commencement Exercises (Program)" (PDF). Caltech Camps Publications. June 11, 1954. (PDF) from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
14. Moore, Gordon E. (Summer 1994). "The Accidental Entrepreneur" (PDF). Engineering & Science. pp. 23–30. (PDF) from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
15. Brock, David C., ed. (2006). Understanding Moore's law : four decades of innovation. Philadelphia, Pa: Chemical Heritage Press. ISBN 978-0941901413.
16. Gordon E. Moore (1995). "Lithography and the future of Moore's law" (PDF). SPIE. (PDF) from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
17. Tuomi, I. (2002). "The Lives and Death of Moore's Law". First Monday. 7 (11). doi:10.5210/fm.v7i11.1000.
18. "Intel Corporation". Encyclopædia Britannica. from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
19. Yeh, Raymond T.; Yeh, Stephanie H. (2004). "Intel: Leaping into the future with Moore's law". The art of business : in the footsteps of giants. Olathe, CO: Zero Time Pub. pp. 77–89. ISBN 978-0975427712. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
20. . History Makers. San Mateo County History Museum. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
21. Rogoway, Mike (April 11, 2022). "Intel renames main Oregon site for founder Gordon Moore, opens $3 billion Hillsboro expansion". Oregon Live. The Oregonian. from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
22. . Carnegie Corporation of New York. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
23. "Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: Grants for Conservation". Inside Philanthropy. from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
24. "Intel's Gordon Moore and CI's Claude Gascon To Receive Major Award". Conservation International. April 19, 2002. from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
25. "Sally Ride, David Lee Named Caltech Trustees, Ben Rosen Named Trustee Chair". California Institute of Technology. December 4, 2000. from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
26. "Technology Pioneer Gordon Moore is Caltech Commencement Speaker". California Institute of Technology. May 3, 2001. from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
27. . California Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
28. "Intel Founder Gives $600 Million to Caltech". The New York Times. October 28, 2001. from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
29. Tytell, David (August 22, 2007). "Thirty Meter Telescope Moves Forward". Sky & Telescope. from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
30. "Grants Search". moore.org. from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
31. "Berkeley Gets Millions From Intel Head". sfgate.com. January 20, 1996. from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
32. "Annual Report on University Private Support" (PDF). University of California. (PDF) from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
33. . Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
34. . UCSF Campaign Insider. University of California San Francisco. 2007. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
35. "National Academy of Engineering Members". Caltech. from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
36. "The National Medal of Technology and Innovation 1990 Laureates". USPTO.gov. The United States Patent and Trademark Office. from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
37. CHM. . Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
38. Voith, Melody; Reisch, Marc (May 14, 2001). "Gordon Moore Awarded the Othmer Gold Medal". Chemical & Engineering News. 79 (20): 62. doi:10.1021/cen-v079n020.p062.
39. "Othmer Gold Medal". Science History Institute. May 31, 2016. from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
40. "SIA Congratulates Intel's Gordon Moore for Receiving Presidential Medal of Freedom". SIA News. Semiconductor Industry Association. June 24, 2002. from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
41. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
42. "IEEE – IEEE Medals, Technical Field Awards, and Recognitions – IEEE Medal of Honor Recipients". ieee.org. from the original on May 2, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
43. "Gordon E. Moore". Dan David Prize. from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
44. . lib.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
45. . The Electrochemical Society. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
46. "Gordon E. Moore Medal". Society of Chemical Industry (SCI America). from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
47. "SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal". Science History Institute. May 31, 2016. from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
48. "UCSF Medal". Office of the Chancellor. from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
49. Dennis, Michael Aaron (November 27, 2019). "Gordon Moore". Encyclopedia Britannica. from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
50. "Gordon Moore - Charlie Rose". charlierose.com. November 14, 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
51. Rothberg, J. M.; Hinz, W.; Rearick, T. M.; Schultz, J.; Mileski, W.; Davey, M.; Leamon, J. H.; Johnson, K.; Milgrew, M. J.; Edwards, M.; Hoon, J.; Simons, J. F.; Marran, D.; Myers, J. W.; Davidson, J. F.; Branting, A.; Nobile, J. R.; Puc, B. P.; Light, D.; Clark, T. A.; Huber, M.; Branciforte, J. T.; Stoner, I. B.; Cawley, S. E.; Lyons, M.; Fu, Y.; Homer, N.; Sedova, M.; Miao, X.; Reed, B. (2011). "An integrated semiconductor device enabling non-optical genome sequencing". Nature. 475 (7356): 348–352. doi:10.1038/nature10242. PMID 21776081.
52. "Gordon Moore, Intel Co-Founder, Dies at 94". Business Wire. Retrieved March 24, 2023.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gordon Moore.

 

Wikiquote has quotations related to Gordon Moore.

• Center for Oral History. "Gordon E. Moore and Jay T. Last". Science History Institute.
• Brock, David C.; Lécuyer, Christophe (January 20, 2006). Gordon E. Moore and Jay T. Last, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by David C. Brock and Christophe Lécuyer at Woodside, California on 20 January 2006 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation.
• Moore, Gordon E. (Summer 1994). "The Accidental Entrepreneur" (PDF). Engineering & Science. pp. 23–30. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• Kaplan, David A. (September 24, 2012). "Gordon Moore's journey". Fortune. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• "1996 Horatio Alger Award Winner Gordon E. Moore". Horatio Alger Association. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• . Intel. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
• Kanellos, Michael (March 9, 2005). "Moore says nanoelectronics face tough challenges". CNET News. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• "It Was the '60s, Man". Wired. April 17, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• Huang, Maria (January 12, 1996). "Moore Laboratory opened with great expectations" (PDF). The California Tech. XCVII (12): 1, 3. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• "The Fairchild Chronicles: DVD tells tale of Silicon Valley's seminal startup". Stanford News Service. March 8, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• "Gordon Moore, Silicon Valley pioneer who co-founded Intel, dies at 94". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
• Appearances on C-SPAN  
• Gordon Moore and Arthur Rock Oral History Panel interview, July 2014, California

Business positions
Preceded by Robert Noyce	CEO, Intel 1975–1987	Succeeded by Andrew Grove