Dean’s Council member since March 2013
Federico Faggin is a physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur. Born, raised, and educated in Italy, he immigrated to the US in 1968. He is credited with designing the world’s first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004 in 1971, and he went on to invent dozens of other integrated circuits. Before that, in 1968 while working at Fairchild Semiconductor, he created a technology that made possible dynamic memories, non-volatile memories, image sensors, and the microprocessor. Faggin started several successful high-tech companies (Zilog, Cygnet Technologies, and Synaptics) that introduced significant products and technologies, including the touchpad and touchscreen that revolutionized the way we communicate with our personal devices. Among the honors Faggin has received are the 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Obama and the 2014 Enrico Fermi Prize. Through the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation, Faggin now supports research programs at US universities and research institutes to advance the understanding of consciousness through theoretical and experimental research.