William H. Davidow

William H. Davidow begins the interview by describing his early interest in science andtechnology. After a five-year program and obtaining his M.S. in electrical engineering atDartmouth College, Davidow decided to pursue science over business and enrolled in theCalifornia Institute of Technology. After obtaining his M.S. at Caltech and his Ph.D. atStanford University, Davidow worked at General Electric on peripheral devices. Davidowrealized that his talent was in marketing rather than science, and moved on to marketingpositions. After working at Hewlett-Packard and Signetics Memory Systems, Davidow movedto Intel and became responsible for marketing of its microprocessor development systems.Eventually Davidow was charged with running the microprocessor division, and embarked on amassive marketing campaign called "Operation Crush." After the success of Operation CrushDavidow moved to work in Intel's marketing and sales division; this is the time period duringwhich increasing Japanese competition forced Intel to withdraw from the memory business andfocus of microprocessors. Davidow concludes the interview by offering his thoughts onMoore's Law, interactions and philanthropic work associated with Moore, and the impactGordon Moore has had on Davidow's life.

General Electric Company

1961 - 1965 Manager, Peripheral Equipment Laboratory

Hewlett-Packard Company

1965 - 1969 Manager, Marketing and Sales

Signetics Memory Systems

1969 - 1973 Vice President, Marketing

Intel Corporation

1973 - 1985

Vice President, Microcomputer Division; Vice President, Microcomputer Systems division; Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales

Mohr Davidow Ventures

1985 - present

Founding General Partner

David C. Brock

David C. Brock is a senior research fellow with the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. As a historian of science and technology, he specializes in the history of semiconductor science, technology, and industry; the history of instrumentation; and oral history. Brock has studied the philosophy, sociology, and history of science at Brown University, the University of Edinburgh, and Princeton University.

In the policy arena Brock recently published Patterning the World: The Rise of Chemically Amplified Photoresists, a white-paper case study for the Center’s Studies in Materials Innovation. With Hyungsub Choi he is preparing an analysis of semiconductor technology roadmapping, having presented preliminary results at the 2009 meeting of the Industry Studies Association.