Federico Faggin

Updated: 12/30/2019 by Computer Hope
Federico Faggin

Name: Federico Faggin

Born: December 1, 1941, in Italy

Computer-related contributions

  • Italian physicist and electrical engineer who was principally responsible for the design of the first commercial microprocessor.
  • Granted patent #3,821,715 on June 28, 1974 that describes a memory system for a multichip digital computer.
  • Led the 4004 (MCS-4) project to its successful outcome and promoted it.
  • Led the design group during the first five years of Intel's microprocessor effort.
  • Founder and CEO of Zilog, the first company solely dedicated to microprocessors.

Honors and awards

  • National Medal of Technology and Innovation from the U.S. President Barack Obama (2010).
  • The 2011 George R. Stibitz Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Computer Museum (Bozeman, MT).