Many historians credit Frederick Terman for introducing the nascent semiconductor industry to what would become Silicon Valley. The Downfall of Shockley Semiconductor and the Rise of Fairchild While Terman’s tenure as Dean of Engineering ended in 1955, Stanford experienced unprecedented growth, reinforced by substantial federal investments in electronics starting in the 1950s related to the Cold War. By 1960, about a third of the country’s TWT business was located next to Stanford’s campus. Capitalizing on Stanford’s expertise, companies such as General Electric and Sylvania set up microwave tube divisions near the university campus, often hiring Stanford faculty and graduates to staff their facilities. emerged stronger than before.ĭuring the Korean War of the early 1950s, the university began to receive significant funding from the Department of Defense for its work on traveling-wave tube (TWT) amplifiers and high-power klystron studies. Globally, this development coincided with the end of World War II- which left the manufacturing capacity of other advanced economies in tatters, but from which the U.S. Terman developed new administrative guidelines for Stanford’s research: all sponsored research was to benefit the educational mission of the university, would pertain to the specific interests of faculty members, and would be carried out by both students and faculty. Dreaming of invigorating the West Coast’s electronics industry, Terman worked to strengthen the university’s electronics and innovation programs. In 1946, Frederick Terman became Stanford’s Dean of Engineering. Leadership also mattered in the evolution of Silicon Valley. Stanford University benefitted from this zeitgeist to become a significant nexus for the region’s innovation and entrepreneurship by the mid-1900s.įrederick Terman’s Impact on Stanford University Industry New money and a steady flow of ideas from across the nation and the world soon gave San Francisco a unique culture that prided entrepreneurialism. Leland Stanford, a leading entrepreneur of the 19 th century who made his fortune in railroads, bought an 8,000-acre property in Santa Clara Valley upon which he then built Stanford University.īy the time of Stanford University’s founding at the turn of the century, the San Francisco Bay Area had witnessed an influx of entrepreneurs and nouveaux riches who had profited off the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s as well as the increased trade of goods with East Asia. While the semiconductor industry arose in the 1950s, Silicon Valley’s success is rooted in the establishment of Stanford University in 1891. ![]() Located in Santa Clara Valley in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley got its nickname from journalist Don Hoefler in a 1971 Electronics Magazine article that chronicled the region’s newfound preeminence in the business of semiconductors, for which silicon is a prominent ingredient. A key question for policymakers seeking to develop new technology dynamos is to consider whether and what elements of this experience can be replicated.Ī Tradition of Entrepreneurship and Research Further, Silicon Valley accounts for one-third of venture capital investment throughout the nation.īut Silicon Valley itself came into being through a curious series of events and happenstances. Today, it is home to the headquarters of many of the world’s largest high-tech corporations, including more than thirty businesses in the Fortune 1000 as well as thousands of promising startups. ![]() ![]() The world’s preeminent hub for technology, Silicon Valley is a byword for innovation.
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