Bernie Vonderschmitt

Bernard V. Vonderschmitt
Born	October 14, 1923 Jasper, Indiana
Died	June 9, 2004 Jasper, Indiana
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Education	Rose Polytechnic Institute
Engineering career
Discipline	Electrics
Institutions	Xilinx
Employer(s)	RCA
Projects	Fabless business model

Bernard V. Vonderschmitt (October 14, 1923 – June 9, 2004) was an electrical engineer, most noted as a co-founder of leading FPGA producer Xilinx.

He was born on October 14, 1923 in Jasper, Indiana.

Vonderschmitt graduated with a BSEE from Rose Polytechnic Institute in 1944. He also received an MSEE degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and later an honorary doctorate from Rider University.

Vonderschmitt began his career with RCA, and worked with them for 34 years, taking a short time during World War II to serve in the US Navy as an electronics officer. He holds 13 patents that cover color television and solid state electronics.

After leaving RCA, he worked briefly for Zilog, before co-founding Xilinx together with Ross Freeman in 1984. With Xilinx, he pioneered the fabless business model which is now used by a large number of semiconductor companies around the world.

In 2002, he retired from Xilinx, with the company entrenched as the worldwide leader in FPGA marketshare.

On June 9, 2004 Vonderschmitt died in his hometown of Jasper, Indiana.

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