Gordon Moore
Co-founder of Intel and proposer of Moore's law.
Gordon Earle Moore was an American businessman, scientist, and engineer who co-founded Intel Corporation and served as its chairman emeritus. He is most famous for formulating Moore’s law, the observation that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years—a prediction that became a central goal for miniaturization in the semiconductor industry and a driver of widespread technological progress. Born in 1929 in California, Moore was inspired to become a chemist after receiving a chemistry set for Christmas in 1940. He studied at San José State College before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1950. He then completed a PhD in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1954, followed by postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. Moore began his scientific career at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory but left with the “traitorous eight” to help found Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation. While serving as director of R&D at Fairchild in 1965, he wrote an article for *Electronics Magazine* predicting that component density in integrated circuits would continue doubling annually for at least a decade; he later revised this to every two years in 1975. In 1968, Moore and Robert Noyce founded NM Electronics, which became Intel. He served as executive vice president, president, and later chairman and CEO, eventually becoming chairman emeritus in 1997. Through the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, established in 2000 with a gift worth about $5 billion, he and his wife supported environmental conservation, science, and education, including major donations to Caltech, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Thirty Meter Telescope project.
- field
- Chemistry, semiconductor engineering, business
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Moore's law, co-founding Intel Corporation
Lore & Background
Gordon Moore was a reserved individual, noted for his introverted personality during his early schooling. He stood as a co-founder of Intel Corporation, where he held roles including executive vice president, president, chairman and chief executive officer, and ultimately chairman emeritus. Moore is most widely recognized for proposing the observation later known as Moore’s law, which states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. This prediction, first made in 1965 while he was director of research and development at Fairchild Semiconductor, became a driving target for miniaturization in the semiconductor industry. His career began at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, but he left with the "traitorous eight" to help create Fairchild Semiconductor. In 1968, he co-founded NM Electronics with Robert Noyce, which became Intel. Under his leadership, the company pioneered advances in computer memory, integrated circuits, and microprocessors. Beyond business, Moore was a major philanthropist; he and his wife established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation with a gift of roughly $5 billion, focusing on environmental conservation, science, and the San Francisco Bay Area. He also donated $600 million to the California Institute of Technology, the largest gift to a higher education institution at the time, and contributed significantly to the Thirty Meter Telescope project.
Reader's Guide
Gordon Moore’s legacy is rooted in his 1965 observation, later known as Moore’s law, that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years, a forecast that became a self-fulfilling target for the semiconductor industry and reshaped global technology. As a co-founder of Intel, he helped build a firm that pioneered advances in computer memory, integrated circuits, and microprocessors, underpinning the personal computer era. Moore’s behavioral pattern—described as introverted in his youth—contrasted with his decisive professional moves, such as leaving Shockley Semiconductor with the “traitorous eight” to found Fairchild Semiconductor, and later co-founding NM Electronics, which became Intel. He held leadership roles at Intel from executive vice president to chairman and CEO, guiding the company through decades of innovation. Beyond industry, Moore’s philanthropy, channeled through the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, targeted environmental conservation in the Andes–Amazon Basin and the San Francisco Bay Area, and made transformative gifts to Caltech, the Thirty Meter Telescope, and nursing education at UC Davis. His work bridges the fields of microelectronics, corporate strategy, and large-scale scientific and environmental philanthropy.
Did You Know?
- Moore was one of the 'traitorous eight' who left Shockley Semiconductor to co-found Fairchild Semiconductor.
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