James Newton Fordemwalt, Ph.D.

Dr. Fordemwalt is a microelectronics pioneer and professor emeritus at Arizona State University with a career spanning six decades of work in circuit and semiconductor engineering. Inspired by his father, a physical chemist, Dr. Fordemwalt earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees at the University of Arizona before completing his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa in 1960. He began his career in General Electric’s nuclear power division and joined the Motorola Semiconductor Products Division in 1961. His work for Motorola and his contributions to the 1965 book “Integrated Circuits” helped galvanize the semiconductor engineering industry, and throughout his career, Dr. Fordemwalt was regarded as a thought leader and subject matter expert in the field. He remained in research and development until 1972, when he accepted an associate professor position at the University of Arizona, and joined the Arizona State University faculty in 1976, serving as Assistant Chair of Electronics and Computer Technology and Associate Chair of Microelectronics before being granted emeritus status in 2001.