Walden (Wally) C. Rhines

Supervisor of the development of Texas Instruments' first speech synthesis devices, used in the iconic "Speak & Spell" toy, Rhines is also co-inventor of the GaN blue-violet light emitting diode, now important for DVD players and low energy lighting.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his father (an engineer by training) was a Professor at Carnegie Tech. The family later moved to Gainesville, Florida. Rhines holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University (1972). He also holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and an Honorary Doctor of Technology degree from Nottingham Trent University.

After graduation from Stanford, he moved to Texas where he joined Texas Instruments and began working on CCD image sensors. Rhines ultimately became the Executive Vice President of Texas Instruments' Semiconductor Group, sharing responsibility for TI's Components Sector, and having direct responsibility for the entire semiconductor business with more than $5 billion of revenue and over 30,000 people. During his 21 years at TI, he managed its thrust into digital signal processing and supervised that business from inception with the TMS 320 family of DSPs through growth to become the cornerstone of TI's semiconductor technology. Rhines has served as President of TI's Data Systems Group and held numerous other semiconductor executive management positions.

He has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Mentor Graphics, Inc., a leader in worldwide electronic design automation with revenue of $1.1 billion in 2012. During his tenure at Mentor Graphics, revenue more than tripled and Mentor grew the industry's number one market share solutions in four of the ten largest product segments of the EDA industry. Rhines started as CEO in October 1993 and served five terms as Chairman of the Electronic Design Automation Consortium, subsequently serving as co-Vice-Chairman.

He has also served as a Board member of the Semiconductor Research Corporation and First Growth Family & Children Charities. He previously served as Chairman of the Semiconductor Technical Advisory Committee of the Department of Commerce, as an Executive Committee member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Open Systems, and as a Board member of the Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers' Association (CBEMA), SEMI-Sematech/SISA, Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDAC), University of Michigan National Advisory Council, Lewis and Clark College, and SEMATECH.