Biography:Jack Kilby

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Jack Kilby
Kilby, early 1960s
Born
Jack St. Clair Kilby

(1923-11-08)November 8, 1923
Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJune 20, 2005(2005-06-20) (aged 81)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Education
  • University of Illinois (grad. 1947)
  • Milwaukee State Teachers College (grad. 1950)
Known forInvention of the integrated circuit
Spouse(s)
Barbara Annegers (m. 1948)
Children2
Awards
  • Stuart Ballantine Medal (1966)
  • IEEE David Sarnoff Award (1966)
  • National Medal of Science (1969)
  • IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award (1978)
  • Holley Medal (1982, 1989)
  • IEEE Medal of Honor (1986)
  • Charles Stark Draper Prize (1989)
  • National Medal of Technology and Innovation (1990)
  • ASME Thurston Lecture Award (1990)
  • Computer Pioneer Award (1993)
  • Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology (1993)
  • Washington Award (1999)
  • Nobel Prize in Physics (2000)
  • Harold Pender Award (2000)
Scientific career
FieldsElectrical engineering
InstitutionsTexas Instruments

Jack St. Clair Kilby (November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005) was an American electrical engineer who took part, along with Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor, in the realization of the first integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments in 1958.[1]: 22  For this invention, Kilby shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.[2]

Kilby was also a co-inventor of the handheld calculator and the thermal printer, for which he had the patents. He also had patents for seven other inventions.[3]

Early life and education

Jack St. Clair Kilby was born on November 8, 1923, in Jefferson City, Missouri.[4] He was raised in Great Bend, Kansas, where his father ran a small electric company that served customers in rural western Kansas. While in high school, a huge ice storm knocked down most of the poles that carried the telephone and electric power lines. His father's company had to use amateur radio operators for communication in the areas where customers had lost their power and phone service. This event sparked his interest in electronics.[5]

After serving in the U.S. Army as an electronics technician during World War II, Kilby began studying electrical engineering at the University of Illinois, graduating with a B.S. in 1947. He then joined the Centralab Division of Globe Union, Inc., an electronics manufacturer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While working in Milwaukee, Kilby continued his education at the Milwaukee State Teachers College (now the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee), where he obtained an M.S. in 1950.[4]

Invention of the integrated circuit

Main article: Engineering:Invention of the integrated circuit
Kilby's original integrated circuit, 1958.

Kilby was vital to the invention of the integrated circuit. In mid-1958, as a newly employed engineer at Texas Instruments (TI), he did not yet have the right to a summer vacation. Kilby spent the summer working on the problem in circuit design that was commonly called the "tyranny of numbers," and he finally came to the conclusion that the manufacturing of circuit components en masse in a single piece of semiconductor material could provide a solution. On September 12, he presented his findings to company's management, which included Mark Shepherd. He showed them a piece of germanium with an oscilloscope attached, pressed a switch, and the oscilloscope showed a continuous sine wave, proving that his integrated circuit worked, and thus that he had solved the problem.[6] U.S. Patent 3,138,743 for "Miniaturized electronic circuits," the first integrated circuit, was filed on February 6, 1959.[7] It was notable for having different components (transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.) on one single substrate.[1]: 22  Along with Robert Noyce (who independently made a similar circuit a few months later), Kilby is generally credited as co-inventor of the integrated circuit.

Later career

Kilby went on to pioneer military, industrial, and commercial applications of microchip technology. He headed teams that created the first military system and the first computer incorporating integrated circuits. He invented the handheld calculator (along with Jerry Merryman and James Van Tassel[8]).

In 1970, Kilby took a leave of absence from TI to work as an independent inventor. He explored, among other subjects, the use of silicon technology for generating electrical power from sunlight. From 1978 to 1984, he held the position of Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Kilby retired from Texas Instruments in 1983.

Family

In 1948, Kilby married Barbara Annegers. They had two daughters, Ann and Janet.[9]

Death and legacy

Kilby died of cancer on June 20, 2005, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 81.[10]

On December 14, 2005, Texas Instruments created the Historic TI Archives. The Jack Kilby family donated his personal manuscripts and his personal photograph collection to Southern Methodist University (SMU). The collection will be cataloged and stored at DeGolyer Library, SMU.

In 2008, the SMU School of Engineering, with the DeGolyer Library and the Library of Congress, hosted a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the birth of the digital age with Kilby's Nobel Prize-winning invention of the integrated circuit. Symposia and exhibits examined the many ways in which technology and engineers shaped the modern world. Kilby held an honorary doctorate of science from SMU and was a longtime associate of SMU through the Kilby Foundation.

Recognition

Awards

Year Organization Award Citation Ref.
1966 United States Franklin Institute Stuart Ballantine Medal[lower-alpha 1] "For the development of monolithic integrated circuits (microchips)." [11]
1966 United States IEEE IEEE David Sarnoff Award "For his outstanding creative contribution in the field of monolithic integrated circuits, for his key inventions and for his team leadership in the application of integrated circuits to large scale systems." [12]
1978 United States IEEE IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award[lower-alpha 1] "For contributions to miniaturization through inventions and the development of integrated circuits." [13]
1982 United States ASME Holley Medal — [14]
1986 United States IEEE IEEE Medal of Honor "For fundamental contributions to semiconductor integrated circuit technology." [15]
1989 United States ASME Holley Medal[lower-alpha 2] — [14]
1989 United States National Academy of Engineering Charles Stark Draper Prize[lower-alpha 1] "For their independent development of the monolithic integrated circuit." [16]
1990 United States ASME Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award — [17]
1993 United States IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award "For co-inventing the integrated circuit." [18]
1993 Japan Inamori Foundation Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology "Creation of the Concept of the Monolithic Semiconductor Integrated Circuit and Its Demonstration." [19]
1999 United States Western Society of Engineers Washington Award "For his distinguished electronics career, including the invention of the monolithic integrated circuit which was the foundation for modern electrics." [20]
2000 Sweden Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize in Physics[lower-alpha 3] "For his part in the invention of the integrated circuit." [2]
2000 United States University of Pennsylvania Harold Pender Award "For his contribution to the invention of the integrated circuit, or microchip." [21]

Memberships

Year Organization Type Ref.
1967 United States National Academy of Engineering Member [22]
2001 United States American Philosophical Society Member [23]

National awards

Year Head of state Award Citation Ref.
1969 United States Richard Nixon National Medal of Science "For original conceptions and valuable contributions in the production and application of integrated circuits." [24]
1990 United States George H. W. Bush National Medal of Technology and Innovation "For original conceptions and valuable contributions in the production and application of integrated circuits." [25]

Honorary degrees

Year University Degree Ref.
1988 United States University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — [26]
1990 United States University of Wisconsin–Madison Doctor of Science [27]
1995 United States Southern Methodist University Doctor of Science [28]
1996 United States Yale University Doctor of Science [29]

Commemoration

The Kilby Award Foundation was founded in 1980 in his honor, and the IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal was created in 1995.

The Kilby Labs, TI's research laboratory for silicon manufacturing and integrated circuit design, is named after him.

For 2012, see 7.

A statue of Jack Kilby stands in Texas Instruments Plaza on the campus of The University of Texas at Dallas.[30]

Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kansas, holds an annual Jack Kilby STEM Day. [31]

See also

  • Geoffrey Dummer

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shared with Robert Noyce.
  2. ↑ Shared with Jerry Merryman and James H. Van Tassel.
  3. ↑ Shared with Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Harper, Charles A., ed (2004). Electronic materials and processes handbook. McGraw-Hill handbooks (3 ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780071402149. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Nobel Prize in Physics 2000". Nobel Foundation. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2000/summary/. 
  3. ↑ "The Chip that Jack Built". IT Invention. http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/jackbuilt.shtml. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Jack Kilby". Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jack-Kilby. Retrieved 2026-04-01. 
  5. ↑ "Jack Kilby – Biographical". Nobel Foundation. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2000/kilby/biographical/. 
  6. ↑ Das, Saswato R. (September 19, 2008). "Opinion: The chip that changed the world" (in en-US). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19iht-eddas.1.16308269.html. 
  7. ↑ "Miniaturized electronic circuits" US patent 3138743, issued 1964-06-23, assigned to Texas Instruments Inc
  8. ↑ Stengle, Jamie (March 7, 2019). "Jerry Merryman, co-inventor of handheld electronic calculator, dies at 86". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-merryman-co-inventor-of-handheld-electronic-calculator-dies-at-86/2019/03/07/801f910c-413c-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html. 
  9. ↑ "Jack S. Kilby". American Institute of Physics. https://history.aip.org/phn/11603012.html. 
  10. ↑ John Markoff (June 22, 2005). "Jack S. Kilby, an Inventor of the Microchip, Is Dead at 81". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/business/jack-s-kilby-an-inventor-of-the-microchip-is-dead-at-81.html. 
  11. ↑ "Jack S. Kilby". Franklin Institute. https://fi.edu/en/awards/laureates/jack-s-kilby. 
  12. ↑ "IEEE David Sarnoff Award Recipients". IEEE. http://www.ieee.org/documents/sarnoff_rl.pdf. 
  13. ↑ "IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award Recipients". IEEE. https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/about/awards/recipients/brunetti_rl.pdf. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Holley Medal". https://www.asme.org/about-asme/honors-awards/achievement-awards/holley-medal. 
  15. ↑ "Jack St. Clair Kilby". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://corporate-awards.ieee.org/recipient/jack-st-clair-kilby/. 
  16. ↑ "1989 Winners: Jack S. Kilby and Robert N. Noyce". http://draperprize.org/1989.php. 
  17. ↑ "Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award". American Society of Mechanical Engineers. https://www.asme.org/about-asme/honors-awards/achievement-awards/robert-henry-thurston-lecture-award. 
  18. ↑ "Jack S. Kilby". https://www.computer.org/profiles/jack-kilby. 
  19. ↑ "Jack St. Clair Kilby". https://www.kyotoprize.org/en/laureates/jack_st_clair_kilby/. 
  20. ↑ "Recipients". https://www.washingtonaward.com/recipients/. 
  21. ↑ "The Harold Pender Award Lecture". University of Pennsylvania. https://events.seas.upenn.edu/distinguished-lectures/pender-lecture/. 
  22. ↑ "Mr. Jack S. Kilby". https://www.nae.edu/29087/Mr-Jack-S-Kilby. 
  23. ↑ "APS Member History". https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Jack+St.+Clair+Kilby&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced. 
  24. ↑ "Jack St. Clair Kilby". https://nationalmedals.org/laureate/jack-st-clair-kilby/. 
  25. ↑ "Jack St. Clair Kilby". https://nationalmedals.org/laureate/jack-st-clair-kilby-2/. 
  26. ↑ "Jack S. Kilby". https://grainger.illinois.edu/alumni/hall-of-fame/jack-kilby. 
  27. ↑ "Honorary Degree Recipients". https://secfac.wisc.edu/awards/honorary-degrees/recipients/. 
  28. ↑ "Jack St. Clair Kilby". https://s3.smu.edu/des/registrar/HonoraryDegrees/?a=bio&pid=144&name=Jack%20Kilby. 
  29. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Since 1702". Yale University. https://secretary.yale.edu/programs-services/honorary-degrees/since-1702?field_degrees_value=All&field_year_value=All&keys=Kilby%2C+Jack+St.+Clair. 
  30. ↑ "What’s the Story? The TI Plaza Statue" (in en). https://magazine.utdallas.edu/2022/06/08/whats-the-story-the-ti-plaza-statue/. 
  31. ↑ "21st Annual Jack Kilby STEM Day". https://bartonccc.edu/jack-kilby-stem-day. 

References bibliography

  • Berlin, Leslie The man behind the microchip: Robert Noyce and the invention of Silicon Valley Publisher Oxford University Press US, 2005 ISBN 0-19-516343-5
  • Lécuyer, Christophe. Making Silicon Valley: Innovation and the Growth of High Tech, 1930-1970 Published by MIT Press, 2006.ISBN 0262122812
  • Nobel lectures, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 2000.



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