Jack St. Clair Kilby, retired Texas Instruments engineer and inventor of the integrated circuit (IC), died Monday in Dallas following a brief battle with cancer. He was 81. Kilby invented the first monolithic IC, which laid the foundation for the field of modern microelectronics, moving the industry into a world of miniaturization and integration that continues today. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000 for his role in the invention of the IC.

Article Tools

• 

“In my opinion, there are only a handful of people whose works have truly transformed the world and the way we live in it–Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers and Jack Kilby,” said TI Chairman Tom Engibous. “If there was ever a seminal invention that transformed not only our industry but our world, it was Jack’s invention of the first integrated circuit.”

But it was the man behind the invention that never ceased to amaze those who knew him. “Ever practical and low-key, with good humor and quiet grace, Jack was a man with every right to be boastful, yet never was,” Engibous noted.

A man of few words, Kilby is remembered fondly by friends and associates for being in every sense of the word a gentleman and a gentle man. At 6 foot 6 inches in height, he was occasionally called the “gentle giant” in the press.

In addition to his TI career, Kilby held the rank of distinguished professor of electrical engineering at Texas A&M University from 1978 to 1984. In 1990, he lent his name to The Kilby Awards Foundation, which commemorates “the power of one individual to make a significant impact on society." Its international awards program honors exceptional individuals for their contributions to society through science, technology, innovation, invention and education.

Kilby considered himself first and foremost an engineer, a profession he viewed as transforming ideas into practical realities. He held more than 60 patents for a variety of electronics inventions. Among these were the handheld electronic calculator and the thermal printer, both of which he co-invented.

In addition to the Nobel prize, Kilby received numerous honors and awards for his contributions to science, technology and the electronics industry. He is one of only 13 Americans to receive both the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology, the highest technical awards given by the U.S. government. In 1993, he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology. Kilby also received the first international Charles Stark Draper Prize, the world’s top engineering award, from the National Academy of Engineering in 1989. In addition, he is honored in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s National Inventors Hall of Fame, celebrating individuals whose ideas have changed the world.

Kilby was the recipient of honorary degrees from several institutions of higher learning including the University of Miami, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois, Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Also, see "An IC History Lesson" in the February 2001 issue of RF Design for an editorial about Kilby.