Computer History Museum

Amelio, Gil (Gilbert F.) oral history

This wide ranging oral history charts Gil’s life and career from humble beginnings in New York and Florida to CEO of several high tech giants in California. He attended Georgia Tech where as an undergrad, he started, built and sold an information services company. After that sale he went on to finish his BS, MS and PhD in Physics. After graduation, Gil went to work at Bell Labs, where is did pioneering work in CCDs (Charge Coupled Devices). After making major contributions at Bell Labs, he moved on to Fairchild Semiconductor in California in 1971 where he continued his work on CCDs and developed a number of critical products. In his 12 years at Fairchild, he moved more towards the management and business side of the operation. From Fairchild, Gill moved on to the semiconductor division of Rockwell in southern California, where he was chartered with turning around a money-losing operation. After a successful turnaround, the division was eventually sold at a profit and Gil moved on to take the CEO position at National Semiconductor in Silicon Valley. After five years of rebuilding that company, he was recruited to the Board of Apple Computer in 1994 and eventually took over the CEO position in 1996. In 1997, after he had brought Steve Jobs back to the company, Jobs succeeded him as CEO in July of that year. Since leaving Apple, Gil has continued to follow his varied interests in business and technology, including venture investing, mentoring of new startups, and inventing new technologies.

Item Details

Date
2012-07-17 (Made)
Type
Document
Catalogue number
102746463
Organization
Computer History Museum (Publisher)
People
Eric Dennis (Videographer)
George Scalise (Interviewer)
Jeff Katz (Interviewer)
Gilbert Amelio (Interviewee)
Category
Transcript
Format
PDF
Extent
42 p.
Place of publication
USA/CA/Mountain View
Language
English
Acquisition number
X6558.2013
Subject
Apple, Modems, National Semiconductor Corporation, AT&T, Fairchild Semiconductor, Semiconductor History, CCD, Rockwell, Bell Labs, Jobs, Steve
Archive collection
Oral history collection
Archive hierarchy
CHM Oral History Collection