T. J. Rodgers
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Thurman John Rodgers, better known as T.J. Rodgers, is the founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor. He is known for his public relations acumen, his brash personality, and strong advocacy of laissez-faire capitalism.
He received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1970, graduating as salutatorian with majors in chemistry and physics. He received his master's degree (1973) and Ph.D. (1975) in electrical engineering from Stanford University. While pursuing his Ph.D. degree, Rodgers invented the VMOS process technology, which he later licensed to American Microsystems, Inc. He founded Cypress Semiconductor in 1982. He is doctor honoris causa from Universidad Francisco Marroquin.
Rodgers is an avid jogger and wine enthusiast. He is a prominent supporter of several charities, including Second Harvest Food Bank, and serves as an alumni trustee on the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees.
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[edit] The "Nun Episode"
Rodgers made headlines in 1996 when Sister Doris Gormley, the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, sent him a form letter encouraging him to hire women and minorities on the Cypress board. He replied with a long letter defending a pure meritocracy in terms of hiring practices.[1] The exchange sparked debate about political correctness and racial/gender preferences in business.
[edit] Awards and Recognition
1986:
- Entrepreneur of the Year by City of Santa Clara, California
1996:
- "CEO of the year" - Financial World Magazine
1997
- Outstanding Individual Entrepreneurship Award from the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
2000:
- Award from the Healing Institute for his support of the [George Washington] Carver Scholars Program
2001:
- Cited as one of the "100 People Who Changed Our World." by Upside Magazine
- Silicon Valley Capitalism Award for "exemplifying the virtues of capitalism and defending capitalism with ethical principles in the media."
- Angel Award by the International Angel Investors organization for his venture-capital activities supporting the semiconductor industry
- Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Smith Center for Private Enterprise Studies at California State University at Hayward
2002:
- "Top 100 Chief Executives" by Chief Executive magazine.
2005 :
- Inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Council Hall of Fame.
2006:
- Honored with a Fellow Award from the International Engineering Consortium.
2009:
- Spirit of Ireland [2] Award
[edit] Patents
1975[3]
US3878552 - Bipolar Integrated Circuit and Method.
US3924265 - Low capacitance V groove MOS NOR gate and method of manufacture
1976
US3975221 - Low capacitance V groove MOS NOR gate and method of manufacture
1980
US4222063 - VMOS Floating gate memory with breakdown voltage lowering region
US4222062 - VMOS Floating gate memory device
1988
US5835401- DRAM with hidden refresh
US4764248 - Rapid thermal nitridized oxide locos process
1999
US5977638 - Edge metal for interconnect layers.
2000
US6131140 - Integrated cache memory with system control logic and adaptation of RAM bus to a cache pinout
2001
US6185126B1 - Self-initializing RAM-based programmable device.
2004
US6835616 - Method of forming a floating metal structure in an integrated circuit
US6730545 - Method of performing back-end manufacturing of an integrated circuit device
2005
US6903002 - Low-k dielectric layer with air gaps.
US6847218 - Probe card with an adapter layer for testing integrated circuits.
2006
US7045387 - Method of performing back-end manufacturing of an integrated circuit.
[edit] References
- ^ Rodgers, T.J. (1996-05-23). "Profits Vs. PC A Silicon Valley CEO says no to boardroom quotas — on moral grounds.". Reason magazine. http://oldsite.reason.com/9610/fe.rodgers.shtml. Retrieved 2008-02-25. "[…] Thank you for your letter criticizing the lack of racial and gender diversity of Cypress's Board of Directors. I received the same letter from you last year. I will reiterate the management arguments opposing your position. Then I will provide the philosophical basis behind our rejection of the operating principles espoused in your letter, which we believe to be not only unsound, but even immoral, by a definition of that term I will present. […]"
- ^ Spirit of Ireland Award
- ^ Information on Patents
- No-Excuses Management: Proven Systems for Starting Fast, Growing Quickly, and Surviving Hard Times, by T.J. Rodgers, William Taylor and Rick Foreman (1993), Currency, ISBN 0-385-42604-6
[edit] External links
- Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business A debate in Reason Magazine between John Mackey, Milton Friedman, and T.J. Rodgers
- Text of Rodger's letter to Sister Gormley.
- Profile from Dartmouth College upon his election to the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees
- T.J. Rodgers - Libertarian from the Advocates for Self-Government website
- Cypress' T.J. Rodgers on solar, politics, and capitalism, part 1 part 2 from News.com
- Mr. Rodgers Goes to Dartmouth A cautionary tale about a businessman who ventured back into the Ivory Tower. Interview in the Wall Street Journal 2008-02-15
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