George Martin Scalise

Winner of the semiconductor industry's highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award, Scalise is recognized as a defender of the semiconductor industry against attacks by foreign competitors, helping the United States maintain its worldwide sales and technology leadership.

Born in Warren, a town in western Pennsylvania north of Pittsburgh, Scalise's parents had emigrated from Italy. After graduating from high school in June of 1952, he entered Purdue University Engineering School in September. He graduated from Purdue in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He then went to work for Sylvania in their TV division out of Buffalo, New York; however, within a month, he received his notice to take a physical for the draft.

Scalise volunteered to enter the army and spent two years in the Chemical Corps in Edgewood, Maryland, making munitions. He was discharged in October 1958, when the semiconductor industry was just getting underway. He went to work for CBS Hytron, which eventually changed to become CBS Electronics. They were an offshoot of the Columbia Broadcasting System, which wanted to get into high technology, so they bought the CBS Hytron Factory—one of the factories established during the Second World War to provide tubes for the military's needs. He joined them just as they had started their semiconductor operation.

Scalise accumulated over 30 years of experience in the technology industry. He held executive management positions at Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc., and Motorola Semiconductor. He has served as an Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President of Planning & Development, and Chief Administrative Officer of National Semiconductor Corporation from 1991 to 1996. He has also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Maxtor Corporation, and as an Executive Officer of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.

Scalise has served as an Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Apple Computer Inc. from March 1996 to May 1997, after which he joined SIA. He directed and oversaw SIA programs focused on public policy, technology, workforce, international trade and government affairs, environment safety and health, and communications. He has served as President of the Semiconductor Industry Association from June 1997 to July 17, 2010, and subsequently as its Director.

He founded the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and has served as its Chairman. Scalise has also served as a Director of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. from 1989 onward, and as a Director of SEMATECH Inc. He has served as Secretary of the Energy Advisory Board, U.S. Department of Energy from 1993 to 1995. He has served as a Director of Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, as Deputy Chairman of that institution from January 2001 to May 2003, and as its Chairman from May 2003 to December 2005.

His additional board and advisory roles have been extensive. Scalise has served on the Boards of the American Electronics Association and the Bay Area Economic Forum, and also as a Director of Isuppli Corporation. He has served as a Special Advisor at Jazz Technologies Inc. from 1997 onward, and as a Special Advisor of Acquicor Technology Inc. from 1997 onward. He has served as Chairman of the Board and President of Network Equipment Technologies Inc., and as a Director of ATMI Inc. from September 7, 2010 onward. He has served as an Independent Director of MindTree Consulting Pvt. Ltd. (later MindTree Limited) from October 24, 2006 to March 31, 2012, and as a Director of Intermolecular, Inc. from December 2004 onward. He has also served as a Member of the Advisory Board of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority and Nantero, Inc.

Scalise has served on President George W. Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and as a Member of the Joint High-Level Advisory Panel of the United States–Israel Science and Technology Commission. He has participated on advisory committees of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, the School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, and the California Council on Science and Technology. He received the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from Purdue in 2002.

On November 4, 2010, Scalise, as President Emeritus of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), was named the 2010 winner of the semiconductor industry's highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award. SIA presents the Noyce Award annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to the microelectronics industry. Ray Stata, Chairman of Analog Devices, Incorporated and Chairman of SIA, stated: "George Scalise shaped policies that propelled the semiconductor business to become America's number one export industry and enabled U.S. semiconductor companies to remain the global innovation leaders. George has had an extraordinary career in business and public policy, and without him, the semiconductor industry would not be the engine of innovation, high-wage jobs and economic growth that it is today. George defended the industry against attacks by foreign competitors, helping the United States to maintain its worldwide sales and technology leadership. George Scalise is a true icon in the semiconductor industry, and so it is only fitting that he should join the ranks of other great leaders in receiving our industry's highest award."