John "Jack" F. Gifford (January 11, 1941 – January 11, 2009) was an American engineer and businessman best known as a founder and former CEO, President and Chairman of the Board of

Maxim Integrated Products Maxim Integrated, a subsidiary of Analog Devices, designs, manufactures, and sells analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for the automotive, industrial, communications, consumer, and computing markets. Maxim's product portfolio includes p ...

, an analog and mixed signal semiconductor company, located in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. He served as the company's CEO until his retirement in 2007.

Life and career

Gifford was born in 1941 and graduated from Banning High School in Los Angeles, California. He attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA) on a baseball scholarship and wanted to play professionally. However, Gifford had married his high school sweetheart at age eighteen and realized he could not play baseball and support his wife and child. He graduated from UCLA with a BSEE degree in 1963. He was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Gifford's first job upon graduating from college was as a design engineer at Electronic Specialties in Los Angeles. He was soon recruited by

Fairchild Semiconductor Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, it became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of int ...

, at the age of 24. At Fairchild, Gifford worked his way up from the lower management levels to become the company's first Director of Analog Products. In 1968, Gifford co-founded

Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...

and served as the company's Vice President of Marketing and Planning. Gifford left Advanced Micro Devices to begin a career in farming. Shortly after, he was persuaded to consult on a part-time basis at

Intersil Intersil is an American semiconductor company headquartered in Milpitas, California. As of February 24, 2017, Intersil is a subsidiary of Renesas. The previous Intersil was formed in August 1999 through the acquisition of the semiconductor busin ...

in the analog division, while continuing his farming. Eventually, Gifford left farming to assume the full-time position as Vice President of the Analog Division and later CEO of

. At Intersil, Gifford was instrumental in the development of low power CMOS for analog applications, which became one of the largest analog IC markets in the world. Gifford is considered to be one of the "founding fathers" on the analog microchip industry. In 1983, Gifford co-founded

and led the company as CEO and President for the next 24 years. He developed a culture of high expectations with an emphasis on innovation. At Maxim, he devised a list of thirteen principles, known as the Maxim Principles, to define the company's culture. By 2007, when Gifford retired as Maxim's Chairman, CEO and President, Maxim had over 10,000 employees and reported revenues over $2 Billion. The

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

had been investigating the company for back-dating stock options since June 2006. A few months after Gifford retired, the CFO resigned and the company was delisted as it restated earnings for 2000 through 2005. Gifford maintained a passion for baseball throughout his life. In 1994, he founded, sponsored and played for the Maxim Yankees, a semi-pro wood bat baseball team. He also supported several college baseball programs - Stanford, California,

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

and UCLA. At UCLA, he funded and oversaw the construction of the Jack and Rhodine Gifford Hitting Facility, a practice facility at Jackie Robinson Stadium.Former UCLA Baseball Player Jack Gifford Passes Away
, ''UCLABruins.com'', January 16, 2009 Married for nearly 49 years, Gifford had three daughters and eleven grandchildren. Gifford died on his 68th birthday of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

, in

Kamuela, Hawaii Waimea is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 7,028 at the 2000 census and 9,212 at the 2010 census. Since each U.S. state cannot have more than one post office of the same name, and th ...

Honors and awards

* 1988 – Nominated for the National Entrepreneur of the Year award by Arthur Young * 1990 – Elected to the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame * 1991 – Named Alumnus of the Year of the UCLA College of Engineering * 1992 – Commencement Speaker at the 1992 UCLA College of Engineering Graduation Ceremony * 2001 – Named CEO of the Year by Electronic Business Magazine * 2004 – Oldest player ever to participate in the National Baseball Congress World Series * 2005 – Named America's Best Semiconductor Industry CEO by Institutional Investor Magazine * 2007 – Commencement Speaker at the University of Hawaii, Hilo * 2007 – Received the Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from the University of Hawaii, Hilo * 2008 – Recipient of the Special Service Award from the Santa Clara County, Hot Stove Baseball Society

References

External links

Author - Jack Gifford, Electronic DesignUCLA Photo Gallery, Jack Gifford Hitting Facility ConstructionJack Gifford Quotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gifford, John 1941 births 2009 deaths People from Torrance, California UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni UCLA Bruins baseball players AMD people American chief executives of manufacturing companies American salespeople American technology chief executives

Life and career

Honors and awards

References

Further reading

External links