Mead, Carver A. (Carver Andress) (Electrical Engineer)

Dates

• Existence: 1934-05-01    

Biographical/Historical

Background: Caltech Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, 1959-present; Caltech Instructor in Electrical Engineering, 1958-1959; Caltech alumnus (BS, 1956; MS, 1957; PhD, 1960).

Biographical/Historical

Description: Carver Mead was born in Bakersfield, California, and grew up mostly in Big Creek, where his father was involved in the Big Creek power project conducted by the Edison Company. He entered Caltech as a freshman in 1952 with a major in electrical engineering, and stayed on to complete his PhD in the same field in 1960. Early in his career he became involved in the design of small transistors, microchips and integrated circuits, thereby establishing himself as a major force in California's burgeoning semiconductor industry. He later became interested in computation and neural sciences, in which he collaborated with John Hopfield, Richard Feynman and others. Mead has received many awards, including honorary doctorates from the University of Lund (Sweden) and the University of Southern California.

Biographical/Historical

Collection Notes: Oral History 1996. A 37-page account, with interviewer Shirley K. Cohen, of Mead's early life and education, his career at Caltech, including the beginnings of applied physics in the early 1960s; also includes discussion of beginnings of semiconductor industry (Silicon Valley); Computation and Neural Sciences program at Caltech; and discourse on the teaching of freshman physics. Mention of collaborators and people who influenced him at Caltech.

Found in 13 Collections and/or Records: