Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Paul Gray: A Career in Electrical Engineering, UC Berkeley Administration, and Private Sector Leadership Interviews conducted by Paul Burnett in 2017 and 2018 Copyright © 2018 by The Regents of the University of California Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley ii Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Paul Gray dated August 22, 2018. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://ucblib.link/OHC-rights. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Paul Gray, “Paul Gray: A Career in Electrical Engineering, UC Berkeley Administration, and Private Sector Leadership,” conducted by Paul Burnett in 2017 and 2018, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2018. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iii Paul R. Gray, 2005 Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iv Paul Gray is Professor Emeritus of Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Dr. Gray worked at Fairchild Semiconductor before joining UC Berkeley EECS in 1971. There he developed a multi-decade research project on digital-analog conversion and the thermal properties of integrated circuits, which laid the foundation for digital telecommunications, scientific instrumentation, and digital representations of the analog world. He served as Chair of EECS (1990-93), Dean of the College of Engineering (1996-2000), Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of UC Berkeley (2000-06). He has served on the boards of several corporations, in addition to the board of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley v Table of Contents—Paul Gray Interview 1: November 1, 2017 Hour 1 1 Birth in Jonesboro, Arkansas December 1941 — Maternal grandfather, national president of the Piggly Wiggly grocery stores — Mother, graduate of University of Arkansas and father graduated from West Point in 1941 — Divorce — Mother as role model — Idyllic aspects of childhood — Moving to Tuscon in 1957 — Joining Civil Air Patrol — Working throughout childhood — Learning how to fly — Positive influence of high school geometry and journalism teachers — University of Arizona in 1960 — Platoon leader for ROTC for a year —West Point: a road not taken — From engineering to electrical engineering Hour 2 16 Sponsorship through graduate school on NSF grants — Meeting wife — Master’s thesis with Fred Lindholm on integrated circuits — PhD with Doug Hamilton — Simulation programs and verification of accuracy of configurations — Dramatic improvements in miniaturization of chips — Lab TA from 1963 to 1964 — Work as engineer at the U of A lunar and planetary laboratory in summer 1964 — Married, June 1966 Interview 2: November 13, 2017 Hour 1 29 Appealing the draft in 1967 to finish PhD — Job interviews and exposure to Bell Labs, Motorola, Sprague Electric, and Fairchild — Culture at Bell Labs — Work at Fairchild R&D in late 1968 — History and culture of Fairchild and connections to Stanford and UC Berkeley — Restructuring at Fairchild in 1970 — Thermal effects of power devices — Fairchild R&D as emulation of Bell Labs model — Tension between Fairchild R&D and Fairchild — Early culture of what would become Silicon Valley — Son Mathew born spring 1971 — Becoming regular faculty member — Nature of EECS, prior merger of electrical engineering and computer science department, 1968 — Importance of Don Pederson, Ernest Kuh, Paul Morton, Lotfi Zadeh, John Whinnery, and role of Berkeley EECS in the history of Silicon Valley — CANCER and SPICE software, and importance of quasi-open-source nature of SPICE, and the pioneering of a public domain model for the dissemination of technology and research in electrical engineering — Experimental integrated circuits — Yannis Tsividis, MOS technology — A/D converter innovation — Ted Hoff [Intel] and the early history of the microprocessor — Hoff’s project at Intel to build telephone line interface circuitry, P.R. Gray’s involvement in, academic leave at Intel, 1977-78 Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley vi Hour 2 44 Members of Gray’s graduate group, Dave Allstot and Ian Young, and cooperation with Professor Robert Broderson to develop switched-capacitor filters — Patent for A/D converter — Comparison of work to that for development of compact disc D/A conversion — Innovation in education at Berkeley EECS, 1970s-90s — Rethinking education as preparation for career, rather than first job — More on year at Intel — Patents in electrical engineering — Helping to establish the Industrial Liaison Program in 1979 — Campus climate in 1970s — Ted Kaczynski bombing in Cory Hall — Collaboration between faculty at EECS and at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory — Second son, Ryan, born 1975 — Move to Orinda Interview 3: December 1, 2017 Hour 1 54 Writing an electrical engineering textbook with Bob Meyer in 1977 — Integrated circuits — Berkeley’s technology transfer — Mentoring graduate students — Industrial Liaison Program meetings in 1975 — Financial pressures in the 1990s and problem of patenting in EE — Industry- university cooperation at Berkeley — Funding from NSF, DARPA, and industry — Reduced Instruction Set Computer — Evolution of ASICS — Transition to MOS technology Hour 2 67 Managing the CMOS design group for Exar — Dawn of the personal computer era — Globalization in the semiconductor industry — UC Berkeley’s department chairmen over the years — Biology department reorganization — RAID and disk reliability in 1988 — Award of the Centennial Medal in 1984 by the IEEE Interview 4: February 19, 2018 Hour 1 77 Work with Micro Linear in 1984 — Joining the board in 1988, staying for three years — Working at Bob Pepper’s company, Level One, till 1999 — Engaging weekly as a technical consultant — Joining the board for Marvell in 1990 — The stock option backdating episode from 2006 to 2008 — Becoming involved with other boards — Innovation in Silicon Valley — Small consulting with Sentons and Applied Micro Circuits — American response to global competition, including government intervention and Sematech — Craig Barret, material scientist at Stanford, leading the change to make Intel the best semiconductor manufacturer in the world — Dave Hodges making semiconductor manufacturing an academic discipline and starting the journal IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing — Appointment to lead units in EECS in 1980s — Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley vii Acting director of the Electronics Research Lab for a year — Role of organized research units [ORUs] in fostering interdisciplinary research at UC Berkeley Hour 2 92 Funding for the research units in EECS — Vice chancellor for computer resources from 1988 to 1990 — Asian-American admissions controversy starting in 1987, working with Steve Lewis to investigate — Chairman of engineering department in July of 1990 — 1990 recession leading to implementation of voluntary early retirement program, VERIP, and testing resilience of the university — Building Soda Hall — Finishing as chairman and serving on the campus budget committee for a year — Importance of Committee on Budget and Interdepartmental Relations in maintaining excellence and adaptation to a changing world — Strong representation of engineers in university and corporate administration Interview 5: March 14, 2018 Hour 1 106 Loss of 25% of faculty at