Oral history interview with Andrew S. Grove

Oral history interview with Andrew S. Grove

  • 2004-Jul-14 (First session)
  • 2004-Sep-01 (Second session)

Andrew S. Grove begins the first interview session with a description of his undergraduate life at the City College of New York, where exposure to influential professors shaped his professional outlook and personal demeanor. Grove studied fluid dynamics with Andreas Acrivos at the University of California, Berkeley, publishing four papers from a doctoral thesis. Grove also studied solid state physics and became employed by Fairchild Semiconductor. Grove cites Gordon E. Moore as a decisive factor in accepting the position. Grove had a close relationship to Moore at both Fairchild and Intel Corporation. In the second interview, Grove discusses the design of Fairchild Semiconductor offices and its effect on the accessibility of higher management, as well as the work ethic of the employees. Grove was attracted to an offer from National Semiconductor but remained with Fairchild Semiconductor after being promoted by Robert N. Noyce. The combination of personalities of Fairchild Semiconductor executives contributed to its success, a pattern which emerged in Intel Corporation as well after its founding by Grove, Gordon Moore, and Robert Noyce. Grove concludes his interview with a reflection on the contributions of Moore, Noyce, and himself to the semiconductor industry.

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Extent
  • 41 pages
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Rights Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Rights holder
  • Science History Institute
Credit line
  • Courtesy of Science History Institute
Digitization funder
  • Audio synchronization made possible through the generous funding of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

About the Interviewers

David C. Brock is a senior research fellow with the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. As a historian of science and technology, he specializes in the history of semiconductor science, technology, and industry; the history of instrumentation; and oral history. Brock has studied the philosophy, sociology, and history of science at Brown University, the University of Edinburgh, and Princeton University.In the policy arena Brock recently published Patterning the World: The Rise of Chemically Amplified Photoresists, a white-paper case study for the Center’s Studies in Materials Innovation. With Hyungsub Choi he is preparing an analysis of semiconductor technology roadmapping, having presented preliminary results at the 2009 meeting of the Industry Studies Association.

Arnold Thackray founded the Chemical Heritage Foundation and served the organization as president for 25 years. He is currently CHF’s chancellor. Thackray received MA and PhD degrees in history of science from Cambridge University. He has held appointments at Cambridge, Oxford University, and Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1983 Thackray received the Dexter Award from the American Chemical Society for outstanding contributions to the history of chemistry. He served for more than a quarter century on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the founding chairman of the Department of History and Sociology of Science and is currently the Joseph Priestley Professor Emeritus.

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Collection
Oral history number 0293

Related Items

Interviewee biographical information

Born
  • September 02, 1936
  • Budapest, Hungary
Died
  • March 21, 2016
  • Los Altos, California, United States

Education

Year Institution Degree Discipline
1960 City University of New York. City College BS Chemical EngineeringChemical Engineering
1963 University of California, Berkeley PhD Chemical Engineering

Professional Experience

Fairchild (Firm)

  • 1963 to 1966 Technical Staff, Semiconductor Research Laboratory
  • 1966 to 1967 Section Head of Surface and Device Physics, Semiconductor Research Lab
  • 1967 to 1968 Assistant Director, Research Laboratory

University of California, Berkeley

  • 1966 to 1972 Lecturer, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Intel Corporation

  • 1968 to 1975 Vice President and Director of Operations
  • 1974 Director
  • 1975 to 1989 Executive Vice President
  • 1976 to 1987 Chief Operating Officer
  • 1979 to 1987 President
  • 1987 to 1998 Chief Executive Officer
  • 1997 Chairman of the Board

Stanford University

  • 1991 Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Honors

Year(s) Award
1960 Best Student Paper Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
1966 Achievement Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
1974 J. J. Ebers Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
1975 Certificate of Merit, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia
1979 Elected member, National Academy of Engineering
1980 Townsend Harris Medal, City College of New York
1984 Hall of Fame Award, Information Industries Association
1984 Council of 100 Members, Arizona State University
1985 Honorary Doctor of Science Degree, City College of New York
1987 Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership Recognition Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
1989 Honorary Doctor of Engineering Degree, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
1990 George Washington Award, American-Hungarian Foundation
1991 Leadership in Technology Management Award, Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology
1993 Citizen of the Year Award, World Forum of Silicon Valley
1993 Executive of the Year Award, University of Arizona
1993 Medal of Achievement Award, American Engineering Association
1995 Technology Award, Heinz Foundation
1995 John von Neumann Medal, American Hungarian Association
1995 Steinman Medal, City College of New York
1996 Statesman of the Year Award, Harvard Business School
1996 International Achievement Award, World Trade Club
1997 Computer Entrepreneur Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
1997 Technology Leader of the Year Award, Industry Week
1997 Man of the Year, Time Magazine
1998 Distinguished Executive of the Year, Academy of Management
2016 Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, Harvard University
2016 Medal of Honor, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
2016 Lifetime Achievement Award, Strategic Management Society

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PDF — 284 KB
grove_a_0293_updated_full.pdf

The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.

Complete Interview Audio File Web-quality download

6 Separate Interview Segments Archival-quality downloads