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Jack Kilby was
born in 1923 in Great Bend, Kansas. His father ran a small, rural
electric company serving the western part of Kansas. When a snow
storm knocked out power and phone service, Jack's father worked with
amateur radio operators to communicate with his customers. Jack
found amateur radio to be a fascinating subject and it sparked his
interest in electronics.
Following service
in World War II, Jack graduated from the University of Illinois in 1947
with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He took a
position with an electronics manufacturer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that
made components for radios and televisions. Jack worked during the day
and pursued graduate studies at night. He completed his master's
degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in
1950.
In 1958, Jack and
his wife moved to Dallas, where he accepted a position with Texas
Instruments. TI was the only company that would allow Jack to work
on electronic component miniaturization more or less full time.
Jack had only been employed by TI for two months when he conceived his
idea for the integrated circuit.
In addition to his
Nobel prize, Jack Kilby received numerous awards throughout his
distinguished career. He is one of only 13 Americans to have
received both the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of
Technology, the highest technical awards given by the U.S. government.
He received honorary degrees from several universities and he received
the first international Charles Stark Draper Prize, the world's top
engineering award, from the National Academy of Engineering in 1989.
Jack held more than 60 patents and is honored in the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office's National Inventor's Hall of Fame.
Jack Kilby spent
his latter years as a Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering
at Texas A&M University, where he spent most of his time doing research
and working with students on various projects.
Jack Kilby died in
2005 at the age of 81. He was eulogized by TI Chairman Tom
Engibous, "Ever practical and low-key, with good humor and quiet grace,
Jack was a man with every right to be boastful, yet never was."
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