Intel Co-Founder Gordon Moore Dies at 94 :: Intel Corporation (INTC)
Moore, who set the course for the future of the semiconductor industry, devoted his later years to philanthropy.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.–( BUSINESS WIRE )– Intel and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced today that company co-founder Gordon Moore has passed away at the age of 94.
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Intel and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced that company co-founder Gordon Moore died on March 24, 2023, at the age of 94. (Credit: Intel Corporation)
The foundation reported that he died peacefully on Friday 24 March 2023, surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii.
Moore and his longtime colleague Robert Noyce founded Intel in July 1968. Moore first served as executive vice president until 1975, when he became president. In 1979, Moore was named chairman and CEO, positions he held until 1987, when he relinquished the CEO role and continued as chairman. In 1997, Moore became chairman emeritus, retiring in 2006.
More: Gordon Moore at Intel
During his lifetime, Moore also dedicated his focus and energy to philanthropy, particularly environmental protection, science, and improvements in patient care. Together with his wife of 72 years, he established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which has donated more than $5.1 billion to charitable causes since its founding in 2000.
“Those of us who met and worked with Gordon will forever be inspired by his wisdom, humility and generosity,” reflected Foundation President Harvey Fineberg. “Although he never sought to become a household name, Gordon’s vision and his life’s work made possible the phenomenal innovation and technological advances that shape our everyday lives. Yet these historic achievements are only part of his legacy. His and Betty’s generosity as philanthropists will shape the world for generations to come.”
Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO, said: “Gordon Moore defined the technology industry through his insight and vision. He was instrumental in revealing the power of transistors, inspiring technologists and entrepreneurs over the decades. We at Intel remain inspired by Moore’s Law, and have intending to follow it until the periodic table is exhausted. Gordon’s vision lives on as our true north as we use the power of technology to improve the lives of all people on earth. My career and much of my life took shape within the possibilities fueled by Gordon’s leadership at the helm of Intel, and I am humbled by the honor and responsibility of carrying on his legacy.”
Frank D. Yeary, chairman of Intel’s board of directors, said: “Gordon was a brilliant scientist and one of America’s leading entrepreneurs and business leaders. It is impossible to imagine the world we live in today, with computing so central to our lives, without the contributions of Gordon Moore. He will always be an inspiration to our Intel family and his thinking at the core of our culture of innovation.”
Andy Bryant, former chairman of Intel’s board of directors, said: “I will remember Gordon as a brilliant scientist, a straight talker and a shrewd businessman who sought to make the world a better place and always did the right thing. It was a privilege to know him and I am grateful that his legacy lives on in the culture of the company he helped create.”
Before establishing Intel, Moore and Noyce participated in the founding of Fairchild Semiconductor, where they played key roles in the first commercial production of diffuse silicon transistors and later the world’s first commercially viable integrated circuits. The two had previously worked together under William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor and founder of Shockley Semiconductor, which was the first semiconductor company established in what would become Silicon Valley. When they struck out on their own, Moore and Noyce hired future Intel CEO Andy Grove as their third employee, and the three built Intel into one of the world’s great companies. Together they became known as the “Intel Trinity” and their legacy continues today.
In addition to Moore’s pioneering role in founding two of the world’s leading technology companies, he predicted in 1965 that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit would double every year—a prediction that became known as Moore’s Law.
“All I was trying to do was get that message across, that by putting more and more stuff on a chip, we were going to make all electronics cheaper,” Moore said in a 2008 interview.
When his 1965 prediction was proven correct, in 1975 Moore revised his estimate to doubling transistors on an integrated circuit every two years for the next 10 years. Regardless, the idea of chip technology growing at an exponential rate, continually making electronics faster, smaller and cheaper, became the driving force behind the semiconductor industry and paved the way for the ubiquitous use of chips in millions of everyday products.
In 2022, Gelsinger announced the renaming of the Ronler Acres campus in Oregon—where Intel teams develop future process technologies—to Gordon Moore Park at Ronler Acres. The RA4 building which is home to much of Intel’s technology development group was also renamed The Moore Center along with the cafe, The Gordon.
“I can think of no better way to honor Gordon and the profound impact he has had on this company than by putting his name on this campus,” Gelsinger said at the event. “I hope we did you proud today, Gordon. And the world thanks you.”
Gordon Earle Moore was born in San Francisco on January 3, 1929 to Walter Harold and Florence Almira “Mira” (Williamson) Moore. Moore was educated at San Jose State University, the University of California at Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1954.
He started his research career at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. He returned to California in 1956 to join Shockley Semiconductor. In 1957, Moore founded Fairchild Semiconductor, a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, with Robert Noyce and six other colleagues from Shockley Semiconductor. Eleven years later, Moore and Noyce founded Intel.
With Fairchild and Intel came financial success. Starting with individual gifts, many of them anonymous, they then formed the Moore Family Foundation and finally, in 2000, created the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Moore and his wife sought through philanthropy to make the world a better place for future generations. His passion for impact and measurement were hallmarks of his philanthropic work and aspirations.
He received the National Medal of Technology from President George HW Bush in 1990, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President George W. Bush in 2002.
After retiring from Intel in 2006, Moore split his time between California and Hawaii, serving as chairman of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation until transitioning to chairman emeritus in 2018. Moore also served as a member of the board of Conservation International and Gilead Sciences, Inc. He was a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Engineers and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He served as Chairman of the California Institute of Technology from 1995 to early 2001, continuing as a Life Trustee.
In 1950, Moore married Betty Irene Whitaker, who survives him. Moore is also survived by sons Kenneth and Steven and four grandchildren.
About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Gordon and Betty Moore established the foundation for creating positive outcomes for future generations. In pursuit of this vision, we advance groundbreaking scientific discoveries, environmental protection, improvements in patient care, and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit Moore.org or follow @MooreFound on Twitter.
About Intel
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is an industry leader, creating world-changing technology that enables global progress and enriches lives. Inspired by Moore’s Law, we continuously work to advance the design and manufacture of semiconductors to help meet our customers’ greatest challenges. By building intelligence into the cloud, the network, the edge and all kinds of computing devices, we unlock the potential of data to transform business and society for the better. To learn more about Intel’s innovations, visit newsroom.intel.com and intel.com.
© Intel Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
See the source version at businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230324005411/en/
Will Moss
Intel Corporation
1-650-521-1754
william.moss@intel.com
Genny Biggs
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
1-415-577-0094
Genny.Biggs@moore.org
Source: Intel Corporation
Released March 24, 2023 • 8:00 PM EDT
