Jack St. Clair Kilby
It was 1937. An ice storm hit Kansas, crushing telephone and power lines in the western part of the state, and leaving people isolated. As the president a small power company in Great Bend looked for a way to communicate with the rest of the world, he turned to amateur radio operators. The president’s teenage son accompanied him to meet with the ham operators and spurred a life-long fascination for electronics. Twenty-one years later Jack Kilby’s interest led him to invent the microchip.

Kilby was named, along with three Russian scientists, as winners of the 2000 Nobel Prize in physics for their work in laying the foundations of information technology. Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer of Russia, with Kilby from the U.S. share one half of the $1 million prize for work on developing semi-conductors. Kilby, of Texas Instruments, won the award for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit and as a co-inventor of the pocket calculator.

After his first contact with ham radio, Jack Kilby got a license, built a transmitter, and began to operate the radios himself. He recalls that “the older hams...were very helpful - and tolerant of a young high school student. It convinced me that I wanted to study electrical engineering.” With bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Universities of Illinois and Wisconsin respectively he began his career in 1947 with the Centralab Division of Globe Union, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin before being hired by Texas Instruments.

Upon his arrival at Texas Instruments in May 1958 he was assigned to work in the area of microminiaturization. As a new employee Kilby had no time off so he worked alone in the lab while the plant was shut down for vacations in July. Left alone to ponder his work, Kilby realized that the only thing a semiconductorhouse could make cost effectively was a semiconductor. This was the inspiration he had been waiting for. He spent the remainder of the July vacation sketching out his ideas. On September 12, 1958, he demonstrated his new invention, the integrated circuit or microchip.

Kilby’s invention changed the world. It virtually created the modern computer industry, transforming yesterday’s crude, room-sized machines into today’s array of mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, and personal computers. Without the microchip we could not probe the far reaches of space or put a person on the moon. It is the basis of our nation’s “smart” systems that sharpen and strengthen our defense capabilities. Today the chip regulates the beat of the heart and helps the deaf to “hear” by feel. Hospitals resemble electronic engineering labs because of the many life-saving instruments made possible by the microchip. It brought profound changes in education, transportation, manufacturing, and entertainment.

Known as the “humble giant” at Texas Instruments’ headquarters, Kilby claims to be computer illiterate, yet he changed the world. He went on to pioneer military, industrial, and commercial applications of microchip technology. He headed teams that built both the first military system and the first computer incorporating integrated circuits. He later co-invented both the hand-held calculator and the thermal printer that was used in portable data terminals. Today Kilby is the recipient of two of the nation’s most prestigious honors in science and engineering. He holds more than 60 U.S. patents and has received numerous awards. One of the most technologically advanced semiconductor research and development facilities in the world was named after him.

Few living people have changed the world through insights and professional accomplishments. Jack Kilby is considered one of the few. In the words of Texas Instruments President and CEO, “Jack did more than invent the integrated circuit that day...he invented the future.”