Gordon Moore Obituary, Death – Intel and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced today that Intel co-founder Gordon Moore died at 94. According to the foundation, he died peacefully at home in Hawaii on Friday, March 24, 2023. Moore and longtime buddy Robert Noyce founded Intel in July 1968. Executive vice president Moore became president in 1975.
Moore was board chairman and CEO from 1979 to 1987 when he resigned as CEO but kept the chairmanship. Moore retired in 2006. Moore also supported research, the environment, and patient care through philanthropy. He and his 72-year-old wife formed the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which has donated over $5.1 billion to charity since 2000.
“Those of us who have known Gordon and have worked with him will long be impressed by his intelligence, humility, and generosity,” said Harvey Fineberg, the foundation’s president. Gordon’s vision and life’s work made possible the remarkable inventions and technological advancements that affect our daily lives, even though he never sought fame. His influence goes far beyond these achievements. Betty and his philanthropy will impact future generations.
“Gordon Moore defined the technology sector through his brilliance and vision,” stated Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. He demonstrated transistor power and inspired businesses and technologists for decades. Moore’s Law inspires Intel to explore all ingredients. Gordon’s vision guides our use of technology to improve humanity. Because Gordon’s leadership at Intel changed my career and life, I’m humbled by the honor and responsibility of carrying his legacy forward.
Frank D. Yeary, Intel’s board chairman, called Gordon a brilliant scientist and one of America’s most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs. Given our dependence on computers, Gordon Moore’s achievements made modern society possible. He inspired Intel’s innovative culture.
“I will remember Gordon as a brilliant scientist, a straight-talker and an adept businessperson who sought to make the world better and always do the right thing,” said former Intel board chairman Andy Bryant. I’m glad his company’s culture has survived. After founding Fairchild Semiconductor, Moore and Noyce helped commercialize diffused silicon transistors and integrated circuits at Intel.
The two worked with William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor and founder of Shockley Semiconductor, the first semiconductor company in Silicon Valley. Moore and Noyce hired Andy Grove, subsequently Intel’s CEO, as their third employee when they went solo. They built Intel into a global powerhouse. The “Intel Trinity” still influences today.
Moore, who helped build two of the world’s most innovative tech companies, predicts that integrated circuit transistors will double every year. Moore’s Law was predicted in 1965. “What I was seeking to do was get across the message, that by putting more and more stuff on a chip we were going to make all electronics cheaper,” Moore said in a 2008 interview.
Moore predicted in 1975 that integrated circuit transistors will double every two years for ten years after his 1965 prediction came true. Yet, the idea of chip technology rising exponentially, continuously cutting costs, boosting speed, and shrinking electronics drove the semiconductor industry and allowed chips to be used in millions of everyday objects.
In 2022, Gelsinger announced that Intel’s Oregon site for process innovation will be renamed Gordon Moore Park at Ronler Acres. The Moore Center, which houses much of Intel’s Technical Research Group, includes the RA4 building and its Gordon café. “Gordon, I hope we did you proud today,” Gelsinger said at the ceremony. Global gratitude.
Walter Harold and Florence Almira “Mira” (Williamson) Moore had Gordon Earle Moore in San Francisco on January 3, 1929. Moore studied at the California Institute of Technology, San Jose State University, and Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1954. He began studies at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. He returned to California with Shockley Semiconductor in 1956.
Moore co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 with Robert Noyce and six Shockley workers. Fairchild Camera and Instrument includes Fairchild Semiconductor. Moore and Noyce launched Intel eleven years later. Intel and Fairchild prospered. Moore and his wife began charity with small, anonymous donations, then established the Moore Family Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in 2000. Impact and measurement drove his humanitarian goals.
He received the National Medal of Technology from George H.W. Bush in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush in 2002. Moore lived in California and Hawaii after leaving Intel in 2006. In 2018, he became chairman emeritus of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s board. Moore was a Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Conservation International director.
He was a Royal Society of Engineers, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers fellow. He chaired the Caltech board of trustees from 1995 to 2001. Life Trustee. Moore married Betty Irene Whitaker in 1950, who lives today. Sons Kenneth and Steven, coupled with four grandkids, also survive Moore.