IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Spring 2023 - 135

Dave's ability to see over the
horizon led him to another research
endeavor in the 1980s that focused
on the problems he saw in domestic
semiconductor
manufacturing.
He raised funds from the Sloan
Foundation and industry partners
to support that work, which had a
significant influence on the National
Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors
published by SEMATECH.
He also led the establishment of
IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor
Manufacturing to support academic
research in this area.
Dave understood the importance
of investing in the education and
training of our future microelectronics
engineers. At the Berkeley celebration
of Dave's life, Tsu-Jae King Liu, UC
Berkeley's engineering dean, credited
Dave as the main driver in upgrading
the pioneering IC lab he had used as a
grad student to a new state-of-the-art
microfabrication facility for a new generation
of students and researchers.
" The Microlab was the successor
to UC Berkeley's first-ofits-kind-integrated
circuit lab.
[It] opened in 1983 and went
on to become a key resource
for microfabrication researchers
in many depar tments
across the campus-including
myself-as well as many
researchers from nearby universities
and startup companies.
After more than 25 years
of service to academia and
industry, it was succeeded by
today's Marvell Nanofabrication
Laboratory in 2010. "
Helping Others Succeed
Dave was an incredibly supportive
colleague. My very first NSF proposal
attempt back in 1973 was
turned down, and I was devastated,
wondering if I was in the right
business. He pulled me aside and gave
me a pep talk, provided some pointers,
and got me to try again. My second
attempt succeeded. Maybe even
more importantly, Dave set a tone. He
was incredibly generous in sharing
credit for his ideas and worked hard
to help his colleagues succeed.
This aspect of Dave's character is
echoed by his former students and
colleagues, including Bob Brodersen.
" Dave had a great impact on
my entire professional career.
It started when I was hired;
Dave had a lot to do with that
... An important thing about
Dave was that you wouldn't
know what he was doing to
help you. Things were getting
done behind the scenes. Many
times, good things would happen
for me, and I wouldn't
know why. Often, I wouldn't
learn for years that Dave was
behind them.
" One part of his support I
did know about was my startup
package. When I first came to
Berkeley, I didn't know about
startup packages, and I hadn't
negotiated one as is common
practice now. I didn't have any
students or any money, so it is
hard to do anything in that situation.
Dave said, 'Okay, you
put a couple of students on my
contract, and you can start off
that way.' That was the beginning
of a long period of time
when he really helped me out
in many different ways, financially
and otherwise. "
There were many other examples,
all illustrating how Dave cared
about others. He showed by example
that a team of collaborators can
achieve amazing things if they just
trust each other and don't worry too
much about who gets the credit.
A Gift for Leadership
Dave's rapid ascent to the department
head role at Bell Labs was an
early indicator of his gift for leadership.
Becoming department head,
in that era, was typically considered
a career-crowning achievement.
He achieved that status only three
years after getting his Ph.D.
In the 1970s, Dave became
involved in the leadership of the
International Solid-State Circuits
Conference (ISSCC), at that time held
in Philadelphia. Using his quiet, diplomatic,
and behind-the-scenes style
of affecting change, he was able
to convince the conference sponsors
and organizers to hold the
meeting in San Francisco (SF) in
alternate years given the increasing
concentration of the semiconductor
industry in the Bay Area. The first
SF meeting was in 1978 when he
was the conference chairman, and it
moved to SF completely a few years
later. While it seems obvious today
that that change was needed, it was
a heavy political lift in those days.
Back at the university, Dave was
drafted into service as a Berkeley
campus leader, first as a department
chair in 1989 and then as the dean
of the College of Engineering in 1990,
a position he held for six years. He
continued his pattern of quiet and
diplomatic changemaking, laying the
groundwork for the future establishment
of a Department of Bioengineering
on the Berkeley campus, the first
new department in many decades.
During his years as dean, 10
women were appointed as engineering
faculty, more than doubling the
number of women in tenure-track
appointments, a major achievement
at the time. Dave also understood the
value of expanding philanthropic
support. He had the foresight to
establish a development team that
could handle external relations and
support strategic growth for the college.
With that help, he was able to
complete the fundraising needed to
build Soda Hall, a process begun by
Karl Pister, his predecessor as dean.
A Sought-After Adviser
Dave's influence as a leader extended
beyond the college to the campus.
The current Berkeley chancellor,
Carol Christ, shared her connection
to Dave at the campus celebration.
" I first got to know Dave in the
early 1990s when former Chancellor
Chang-Lin Tien eliminated
the two-provost system
(in which there were provosts
both for the College of Letters
& Science and the professional
schools and colleges) to create
a single provost position, a
position to which he appointed
IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE
SPRING 2023
135
IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Spring 2023

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