Co-founder of Advanced Micro Devices, a pioneering semiconductor company that played a crucial role in the development of modern computing technology. Known for his contributions to the microprocessor industry.
Edwin Turney is renowned for being one of the co-founders of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), where he served as the Vice President of Sales and Administration from 1969 to 1974. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in the company's exponential growth, propelling AMD into a leading position in the semiconductor industry.
Turney was born on March 26, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. He spent his early years in Ridgewood and later in Huntington, Long Island. At the age of 18, he enlisted in the US Navy, where he received his first training in electronics. Turney graduated 3rd in his class from the U.S. Naval School, Electronics Technicians at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois.
After leaving the Navy, Turney worked briefly for the Long Island Lighting Company before joining Philco as a TechRep Field Engineer. His career took off when he joined Fairchild Semiconductor as a Sales Engineer in 1969. Within two years, he was promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing, Computer Market, based in Silicon Valley, California.
In 1969, Fairchild Semiconductor was taken over by Motorola management, which led to the formation of AMD. Turney, along with Jerry Sanders, John Carey, Sven Simonsen, Jack Gifford, and three members of Gifford's team, founded AMD. As Vice President of Sales and Administration, Turney was responsible for worldwide sales, purchasing, material, customer service, and various administrative and contractual functions.
Under Turney's leadership, AMD's sales grew incrementally at 20% per quarter, reaching approximately $65,000,000 from first production in April 1970 to December 1974. After leaving AMD, Turney became Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Sales at Electronic Arrays, where he increased sales from $6 million to $22 million in just two years, propelling the company into becoming the world's largest ReadOnly Memory manufacturer at the time.
Turney's contributions to the semiconductor industry have had a lasting impact on modern society. His work at AMD and Electronic Arrays played a significant role in shaping the technological advancements of the 1970s and 1980s. The development of microprocessors and memory chips enabled the creation of personal computers, which revolutionized the way people lived, worked, and communicated.
Edwin Turney's legacy is cemented in the semiconductor industry as a pioneer and visionary. His contributions to AMD and Electronic Arrays have had a lasting impact on the development of modern technology. His leadership and innovative spirit continue to inspire generations of engineers, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
98 Years Old
Co-founder of Intel Corporation, credited with inventing the microchip, revolutionizing modern computing and technology. Known for pioneering the development of semiconductor technology.
97 Years Old
Co-founder of Intel Corporation, revolutionized the tech industry with his prediction that the number of transistors on a microchip would double about every two years, leading to exponential growth in computing power and reductions in cost.
