Federico Faggin

Federico Faggin
Faggin in September 2011.
Born	(1941-12-01) December 1, 1941 (age 75) Vicenza, Italy
Citizenship	Italian, American
Fields	Physics, Electrical engineering microprocessor
Institutions	SGS Fairchild Fairchild Semiconductor Intel Zilog Synaptics Foveon
Alma mater	University of Padua (Laurea in Physics, 1965)
Known for	MOS Silicon Gate Technology Intel 4004, Intel 8080 Zilog Z80 Synaptics Touchpad, Touchscreen
Notable awards	Marconi Prize (1988) W. Wallace McDowell Award (1994) Kyoto Prize (1997) National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2009) Computer History Museum Fellow (2009) Enrico Fermi Prize by IFS (2014)
Children	daughter (1970) and two sons (1979, 1980)

Federico Faggin (born December 1, 1941), is an Italian physicist, inventor and entrepreneur, widely known for designing the first commercial microprocessor. He led the 4004 (MCS-4) project and the design group during the first five years of Intel's microprocessor effort. Most importantly, Faggin created in 1968, while working at Fairchild Semiconductor, the self-aligned MOS silicon gate technology that made possible dynamic memories, non-volatile memories, CCD image sensors, and the microprocessor. In addition, he further developed at Intel his original SGT into a new methodology for random logic chip design that was essential to the creation of the world’s first single chip microprocessor and all other early Intel microprocessors. He was co-founder, with Ralph Ungermann, and CEO of Zilog, the first company solely dedicated to microprocessors. He was also co-founder and CEO of Cygnet Technologies and of Synaptics.

In 2010 he received the 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor the United States confers for achievements related to technological progress.

In 2011, Faggin founded the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation to support the scientific study of consciousness at US universities and research institutes. In 2015, the Faggin Foundation helped to establish a $1 million endowment for the Faggin Family Presidential Chair in the Physics of Information at UC Santa Cruz to promote the study of “fundamental questions at the interface of physics and related fields including mathematics, complex systems, biophysics, and cognitive science, with the unifying theme of information in physics.”

Federico Faggin has been a Silicon Valley resident since 1968 and is a naturalized US citizen.

Born in Vicenza, Faggin received a laurea degree in physics, summa cum laude, at the University of Padua, Italy. Federico grew up in an intellectual environment. His father, Giuseppe Faggin, was a scholar who wrote many academic books and translated, with commentaries, the Enneads of Plotinus from the original Greek into modern Italian. Federico manifested, from an early age, a strong interest in technology and decided to attend a technical high school in Vicenza: I.T.I.S (Istitituto Tecnico Industriale Statale) Alessandro Rossi, rather than follow the family tradition of classical studies.