Gordon Moore – The Creator of Moore’s Law and a Quiet But Massive Investor in Science
Many know of Gordon Moore thanks to his famous "law" and his role as a founder if Intel, but as I recently learned, there’s much more to the Gordon Moore story. In 1965, Mr. Moore articulated Moore’s Law that every year, society would see much faster computers because 2x the numbers of transistors could be pushed into integrated circuits. The rule was later updated to 18 months, and today, every three years.
Before co-founding Intel, Mr. Moore was a co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor’s integrated circuit business. The business was focused on the then-novel idea of using silicon to fabricate integrate circuit devices.
Here are some facts most do not know about Mr. Moore. He and his wife, Betty, are massive donors to and investors in science. Courtesy of Wikipedia:
"In 2001, Moore and his wife donated $600 million to Caltech, the largest gift ever to an institution of higher education. He said that he wants the gift to be used to keep Caltech at the forefront of research and technology. Moore was chairman of Caltech’s board of trustees from 1994 to 2000, and continues as a trustee today. In 2002, he received the Bower Award for Business Leadership. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science."
But that’s only part of the story. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is online here with a low key but informative website. Go here to look at year by year gifts – they range from small to incredible, and cover a broad range of science. The Foundation explains its work and mission as "creating positive outcomes for future generations."