About Us

Gordon and Betty Moore are the founders of the Foundation, and Gordon also serves as chairman of the board.

Gordon Moore is co-founder of Intel Corporation and Chairman Emeritus of the Corporation's Board of Directors. Prior to Intel, Gordon co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. A California native, Moore earned his B.S. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Chemistry and Physics from the California Institute of Technology. In 1968 he co-founded Intel, serving initially as executive vice president. He became president and chief executive officer in 1975 and held that post until elected chairman and chief executive officer in 1979. In 1987 he relinquished the CEO title and was named chairman emeritus in 1997.

He is most widely known for his 1965 prediction that the number of transistors the semi-conductor industry would be able to place on a computer chip would double every 12 months. What was intended as a rule of thumb quickly became known as "Moore's Law" and a guiding principle for the delivery of ever more powerful chips at proportionately lower costs. He updated Moore's Law in 1975 from a doubling of chip capacity every 12 months to once every two years.

Gordon is less well known for his philanthropic work even though he has been contributing to science, technology, education, and conservation projects for decades. Gordon received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, from George W. Bush in 2002. He received the National Medal of Technology from President George H. W. Bush in 1990. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Conservation International and of Gilead Sciences, Inc. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology from 1995 until the beginning of 2001 and continues now as a Life Trustee.

Betty Moore was born in Los Gatos, CA. When she was two years old her father died and she was raised by her mother and her grandparents on the grandparent's Los Gatos area fruit ranch. She attended Campbell Elementary School, Los Gatos High School, and San Jose College (where she met Gordon), receiving her B.A. in Journalism in 1949. She was also active in music and the church choir.

Betty worked for the U.S. Rubber Company in San Francisco until her marriage to Gordon in 1950. They then moved to Pasadena so Gordon could attend graduate school at the California Institute of Technology. In Pasadena she worked briefly for Consolidated Engineering Corporation in advertising and public relations, then joined the Ford Foundation shortly after its formation. When Gordon finished work on his Ph.D. in 1953, the couple moved to Silver Spring, MD where their first son, Kenneth, was born. They returned to California in 1956 when Gordon joined Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Mountain View. Their second son, Steven, was born there in 1959.

An outdoors enthusiast for years, Betty was also active on the board of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View and volunteered at the Palo Alto Senior Day Care Center. She was a member of the Governing Board of Filoli, an historic house and garden near Woodside, CA that is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and served on its Fine Arts Committee. She also has an interest in restoring old homes and collecting English antiques.

 About the Founders (Press Kit) (59K, PDF)