Gil Amelio

Gilbert Frank "Gil" Amelio (born March 1, 1943) is an American technology executive. Amelio worked at Bell Labs, Fairchild Semiconductor, and the semiconductor division of Rockwell International but is best remembered as a CEO of National Semiconductor and Apple Inc.

Early life and career

He grew up in Miami, Florida, of Cuban-born parents, and graduated from Miami High School. He received a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and Ph.D. in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. While at Georgia Tech, Amelio was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

Amelio joined Bell Labs as a researcher in 1968. In 1970, Amelio was on the team that demonstrated the first working charge-coupled device (CCD). He moved to Fairchild Semiconductor in 1971, where he led the development of the first commercial CCD image sensors in the early 1970s, and in 1977 became head of the MOS division. He worked his way up to president of the semiconductor division of Rockwell International, and then its communications systems division.