Robert Noyce
Entrepreneur
Co-inventor with Jack Kilby of integrated circuits. He made possible microprocessors and the electronic revolution.
He was a researcher for the Philco Corporation before joining Shockley Semiconductor in Palo Alto, California, to work on transistors.
He co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 to make a new, more efficient transistor and a decade later co-founded Intel.
He was born in Burlington, Iowa, the second youngest of four sons born to the Rev. Ralph Brewster Noyce.
He was idolized by the founder of Apple Steve Jobs for the invaluable advice and leadership he gave Jobs when Jobs was just starting out.