30 Inspiring Facts About Gordon Moore We Bet You Never Knew

Gordon Moore, the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intel Corporation, was also the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor. He is famous for his observation known as ‘Moore’s Law.’ Here are some really interesting facts about the American businessman and engineer:

1.  He was honored with the "National Medal of Technology and Innovation" from President George H. W. Bush in the year 1980.
2.  He was awarded the "Othmer Gold Medal," for his exceptional contributions towards the field of chemistry and science, in the year 2001.
3.  Moore became a Fellow of the "American Association for the Advancement of Science," an international non-profit organization in the year 2003.
4.  He was bestowed with the "Order of the Golden Ark" by Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld for his contributions towards the conservation of the environment, in the year 2002.
5.  The "Society of Chemical Industry" presents the Gordon E. Moore Medal every year in his honor to recognize early career success in innovation in the chemical industries.
6.  In the year 1976, he became a member of the National Academy of Engineering, an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization, which is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
7.  He received the "IEEE Medal of Honor" in the year 2008 and after two years he was awarded the "Future Dan David Prize" for his outstanding work in the field of telecommunications.
8.  He was the recipient of the "Presidential Medal of Freedom" and the "Bower Award," for his Business Leadership in the year 2002.
9.  Moore, as the co-founder of Fairchild and Intel, was inducted as a Fellow of the Computer History Museum, for his fundamental early work in the design and production of semiconductor devices, in the year 1998.
10.  The second largest optical telescope of the world "Thirty Meter Telescope" was built with the donation he had given through some of his philanthropic works.
11.  Gordon Earle Moore was born on January 3, 1929, in San Francisco, California, but spent his childhood mostly in Pescadero, as his father was serving as the county sheriff in Pescadero in San Mateo County.
12.  He went to Sequoia High School in Redwood City, before joining San Jose State University, where he met his future wife Betty Irene Whitaker.
13.  He graduated with a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in the year 1950, following his transfer from San Jose State University,
14.  He married Betty Irene Whitaker on September 9, 1950, but moved to California Institute of Technology, the very next day, where he minored in physics and received a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1954.
15.  From 1953 to 1956, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University.
16.  Moore initially started his career at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory division of Beckman Instruments, joining the MIT and Caltech alumnus William Shockley.
17.  However, he left Shockley in the year 1957, along with the other "traitorous eight," to create the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, backed by Sherman Fairchild.
18.  In the year 1965, he became the director of the research and development (R&D) of "Fairchild Semiconductor."
19.  It was during his tenure as the director, that he made the most popular observation "Moore's Law," as an answer to a question regarding the future of semiconductor components, by the the magazine "Electronics."
20.  Moore, along with Robert Noyce, founded the "NM Electronics" in 1968, which later became famous as "Intel Corporation," in which he served as the Executive Vice President before becoming the President of the company in the year 1975.
21.  He served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Intel Corporation from April 1979 till 1987, while also being the Chair of the Board of Directors of the corporation.
22.  He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, in recognition to his U.S. patent of highly significant technology, in the year 2009.
23.  He became the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of technology in the year 1993. He is currently a life trustee of the institute.
24.  Moore served as a member of the Business Advisory Board in the biotechnology company "Gilead Sciences" from 1991 till 1996, before becoming one of the Board of Directors of the company.
25.  The Moore Laboratories at Caltech, the library at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Materials Research Building at Stanford, are named after him and his wife Betty.
26.  He, along with his wife Betty, established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, with a gift worth about $5 billion in the year 2000.
27.  The very next year, he and his wife donated $600 million to Caltech, at the time the largest gift ever to an institution of higher education. In fact, the as individuals and through their foundation, has reportedly given over $110 million to the University of California, Berkeley, through a series of gifts and grants.
28.  His wife, through the Foundation, created the Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative, targeting nursing care in the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Sacramento.
29.  The Moores were honored with the Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, a private award for philanthropy, bestowed by the Carnegie family of institutions, in the year 2009.
30.  The Electrochemical Society awards scientists with the Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology, once in every two years, in his honor.
31.  Gordon Moore Net Worth: $10.4 Billion