History

Credit: Robert Paz

Caltech Centennial Dinner at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 1991. Celebrating Caltech's "100 years of achievement," Carver Mead chats with master of ceremonies and legendary broadcast journalist, Mr. Walter Cronkite. Honored guests were offered a preview of Caltech's second century. Professors Carver Mead, Harry Gray, Leroy Hood, and Edward Stone spoke on their research and on trends for the future.

Interview of Carver Mead

by David Zierler

A series of seven interview sessions with Carver Mead.

The Caltech Effect: Caltech Campaign

March 2017

The Adventure Continues
"You may have heard of Carver Mead. But even if you haven't, your day-to-day world is shaped by technologies that can be traced back to him and his protégés at Caltech. Such as the device you're using to read this story."

The Early Days of Synaptics

September 15, 2014

Interview with Carver Mead in preparation for the Synaptics 30th birthday celebration.

The Life of a Caltech 'Lifer'

May 1, 2014

"Some people stay at Caltech for years, others only briefly touch down as students or visitors. And then there are the Caltech lifers: those who come and stay...and stay, and stay...and whose presence leaves a lasting imprint on the Institute. Carver Mead is among those Caltech lifers: BS '56; MS '57; PhD '60, and still going strong as the Gordon and Betty Moore Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Emeritus." -Written by Cynthia Eller, Caltech

Allan Sandage as he appeared when I first met him in 1952. That meeting was the pivotal event that convinced me to attend Caltech.

The History of VLSI

February 1, 2011

Carver Mead presents "The History of VLSI" at the University of Washington.

Plenty of Room in the Middle: Nanoscience - The Next 50 Years

Special Lecture Kavli Futures Symposium, Caltech.

Caltech EE Centennial Celebration

November 5, 2010

Carver Mead delivers the Keynote at The Athenaeum Dinner Celebration, one of several events that took place honoring Caltech's EE Centennial in November, 2010.

ENGenious 7

October 8, 2010

Alumni Profile: Carver Mead

ENGenious met with Caltech alumnus Carver Mead (BS ‘56, MS ‘57, PhD ‘60) to learn more about his passions and how his Caltech education shaped him. For the past 50 years, Carver Mead has focused his research and teaching on the physics and technology of electron devices. He is a prolific inventor and is extremely creative. He also loves to teach, encouraging his students to create clean designs and contribute more than their share.

Interviewed by: Trity Pourbahrami, Editor, ENGenious

Carver A. Mead, Oral History

September 30, 2004

Abstract of Interview

Carver A. Mead begins with a review of his family history and his childhood near a power plant in Kernville, California. He discusses his early interest in electronics, which included getting his ham radio license and working for local radio stations during high school. Mead studied electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology and was invited to teach during graduate school, where he took up solid state electronics. In 1959 Gordon Moore contacted Mead, beginning an informal technical exchange while Moore was at Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel Corporation. Mead conducted transistor research, and also pioneered automated design methodologies for VLSI devices. While consulting with Intel Corporation, Mead came to know its internal business culture and management style as well as the economics of the silicon manufacture. Mead discusses his long history of entrepreneurial activity, which continues to the present day.

Interviewed by: David C. Brock and Arnold Thackray, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2004-2005

Caltech History