1. John "Jack" F Gifford was an American engineer and businessman best known as a founder and former CEO, President and Chairman of the Board of Maxim Integrated Products, an analog and mixed signal semiconductor company, located in San Jose, California.
Jack Gifford served as the company's CEO until his retirement in 2007.
Jack Gifford attended the University of California, Los Angeles on a baseball scholarship and wanted to play professionally.
However, Jack Gifford had married his high school sweetheart at age eighteen and realized he could not play baseball and support his wife and child.
Jack Gifford graduated from UCLA with a BSEE degree in 1963.
Jack Gifford was recruited by Fairchild Semiconductor, at the age of 24.
At Fairchild, Jack Gifford worked his way up from the lower management levels to become the company's first Director of Analog Products.
In 1968, Jack Gifford co-founded Advanced Micro Devices and served as the company's Vice President of Marketing and Planning.
Jack Gifford left Advanced Micro Devices to begin a career in farming.
At Intersil, Jack 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.
Jack Gifford is considered to be one of the "founding fathers" on the analog microchip industry.
In 1983, Jack Gifford co-founded Maxim Integrated Products and led the company as CEO and President for the next 24 years.
Jack Gifford developed a culture of high expectations with an emphasis on innovation.
Jack Gifford died on his 68th birthday of a heart attack, in Kamuela, Hawaii.