James Diller

James Diller 57 (Physics) appeared on the cover of Electronic Business magazine in 1989 as one of the worlds New Mavericks in the semi-conductor industry. The physics alumnus has lived up to that moniker. In 1984, Diller founded Sierra Semiconductor, which initially produced chips for the computer industry. The company went public on NASDAQ in 1991. As the Internet exploded the networking business grew dramatically and became the focus of the company. At this point, the company changed its name to PMC-Sierra, the name of the division producing these products. After retiring briefly in 1997, Diller joined Elantec Semiconductor as CEO and helped turn the company around. In 2000 he retired a second time although he remains active. Today, the Portola Valley, Calif. resident is vice chairman of the board of PMC-Sierra, Inc and director of Intersil Corporation, an analog and semiconductor company. He is also a director of two private companies: Avago Industries and Summit Microelectronics. He and his wife, June, have been involved in philanthropy on both coasts. At URI, they established one of the largest endowed scholarships for students majoring in a science.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• PMC-Sierra
• Intersil
• semiconductors
• Summit Microelectronics
• University of Rhode Island
• entrepreneur