Born in Pennsylvania, Last earned a bachelor’s degree in optics from the University of Rochester and his Ph.D. in physics from MIT, after which he joined the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in 1956. Together with seven colleagues, he departed in September 1957 to found Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation in Palo Alto, CA — the first company to manufacture silicon mesa transistors and planar integrated circuits. With Robert Noyce, Last built the first step-and-repeat camera in 1958 and used it to define transistor features photographically, in a process known as photolithography. From 1959 to 1961, he headed a team that developed the first commercial integrated circuits based on the planar processing technology developed by Jean Hoerni. In February 1961 Last and Hoerni left Fairchild to found the Amelco division of Teledyne, Inc., with the goal of manufacturing integrated circuits. He remained with Teledyne until his retirement. Last also founded and managed the Hillcrest Press.