Gil Amelio
Gilbert Frank Amelio (born March 1, 1943) is an American technology executive. Amelio worked at Bell Labs, Fairchild Semiconductor, and the semiconductor division of Rockwell International, and was also the CEO of National Semiconductor and Apple Computer.
Gil Amelio
Early life and career[edit]
Amelio grew up in Miami, Florida, of Italian born parents, and graduated from Miami High School.[1] He received a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and PhD in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. While at Georgia Tech, Amelio was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Amelio joined Bell Labs as a researcher in 1968.[2]
In 1970, Amelio was on the team that demonstrated the first working charge-coupled device (CCD).[3]
He moved to Fairchild Semiconductor in 1971, where he led the development of the first commercial CCD image sensors in the early 1970s,[4] and in 1977 became head of the MOS division.
He worked his way up to president of the semiconductor division of Rockwell International, and then its communications systems division.[5]
Amelio joined National Semiconductor as president and chief executive in February 1991.[5]
Post-Apple career[edit]
Since 1998 Amelio has been a venture capitalist. In February 2001, Amelio became CEO of Advanced Communications Technologies (ADC). ADC is the United States arm of an Australian firm that has developed a product for the wireless communications industry called SpectruCell.[15]
He became senior partner at Sienna Ventures in Sausalito, California in May 2001.[16]
In 2005 he co-founded Acquicor with ex-Apple CTO Ellen Hancock and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.[17][18][19]
Acquicor acquired Jazz Semiconductor in early 2007, and sold it in 2008 for a loss.[20][21][22]
Amelio was a director and chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association. Since 1996 he has been an advisor to the Malaysia Multimedia Super Corridor and to Malaysia's Prime Minister. In June 2003 he was named chairman of the board of Ripcord Networks; where he joined Steve Wozniak, Ellen Hancock, and other Apple alumni.[23] Amelio was a board member of AT&T Inc., Pacific Telesis, Chiron Corporation, Sematech, InterDigital, and Georgia Tech (as chairman), as well as a trustee of the American Film Institute.[24]
He was a contributor to the report An American Imperative (1993),[25] and author of the books Profit from Experience (1995, ISBN 978-0471287049) and On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple (1998, ISBN 978-0887309199).
In November 2020, Amelio joined the board of directors for Nashville-based augmented reality startup VideoBomb.[26]
Amelio joined the board of directors for Computer Museum of America in September 2023.[27]