Artifact Details

Description

This oral history, conducted by John Hollar, covers the early life and the extensive career of Floyd Kvamme.

Floyd Kvamme was born and raised in northern California. The child of hardworking Norwegian immigrants, he recalls his early interest and knack for mathematics while helping his parents with their income taxes. In the fourth grade, Kvamme began what is now a most impressive stamp collection, underscoring his lifelong passion for geography, history, and travel.

Kvamme studied electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley from 1955 to 1959. He continued on to Syracuse University where he graduated with a master’s degree in Semiconductor Materials Science and Engineering in 1962. During this time he also worked full time for General Electric.

Kvamme recalls his first job after graduate school at Space Technology Labs (STL) as a circuit designer in southern CA; his move to National Semiconductor, with stories of Bob Widlar and Charlie Sporck; his first meeting with Ross Perot; and his stint as Apple’s executive vice president of marketing, sales, and distribution in the early 1980s, where he also fondly recalls his impressions and memories of the late Steve Jobs. He goes on to discuss his role as a venture capitalist with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), and his transition into the political sphere with his appointment by President George W. Bush as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST).

Date

2011-10-18

Contributor

Dennis, Eric, Videographer

Hollar, John C., Interviewer

Kvamme, E. Floyd, Interviewee

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Mountain View, CA, USA

Extent

51 p.

Copyright Holder

Computer History Museum

Category

Transcription

Subject

semiconductor industry; Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB); University of California, Berkeley; electrical engineering; Sturm, Theodore; Schwede, Otto; General Electric; Syracuse University; semiconductor design; Space Technology Labs (STL); Fairchild; Moore, Gordon; Sporck, Charlie; Raytheon Company; Widlar, Bob; National Semiconductor Corporation; Itel Corporation; Perot, Ross; MOS transistors; Markkula, Mike; Jobs, Steve; Apple; Chiat, Jay; Perkins, Tom; Clinton, Bill; Kemp, Jack; TechNet; Bush, George W.; Dell, Michael; PCAST (President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology)

Collection Title

CHM Oral History collection

Lot Number

X6284.2012

Related Records

102746015

Kvamme, E. Floyd (Earl Floyd) oral history