Business & Science
Jack Kilby
Jack Kilby developed the first working integrated circuit at Texas Instruments in Dallas in 1958 and later received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his part in the invention that transformed modern electronics.
- Roster rank
- #152
- Category
- Business & Science
- Subject type
- Person
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Life and career
Jack St. Clair Kilby was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, and joined Texas Instruments in Dallas in 1958. That September he demonstrated a working integrated circuit built from a single piece of semiconductor material, a breakthrough that helped launch the microelectronics era.
Kilby's achievement should be described precisely. The Nobel committee honored him in 2000 'for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit'; Robert Noyce independently developed a practical integrated-circuit approach at Fairchild. Kilby also contributed to the handheld calculator and thermal printing and later taught at Texas A&M.
Defining work
What to know
- 1958 working integrated circuit
- Texas Instruments
- handheld calculator development
- 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1958Joins Texas Instruments in Dallas and demonstrates a working integrated circuit.
- 1960sContributes to Texas Instruments calculator and printing technologies.
- 1978Begins service as a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M.
- 2000Receives the Nobel Prize in Physics for his part in inventing the integrated circuit.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Dallas
Texas Instruments laboratory where Kilby demonstrated the integrated circuit.
College Station
Texas A&M teaching appointment.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Kilby's Dallas laboratory work is one of the foundational achievements of the semiconductor age.
His Texas story links industrial research at Texas Instruments with later teaching at Texas A&M.
Sources
Research trail
Cross-linked profiles