Jack Kilby Won Nobel Prize For Physics June , 2005 DALLAS — Nobel laureate Jack Kilby, who is credited as co-inventor of the integrated circuit that made today’s computers possible, has died of cancer. He was 81.
The retired Texas Instruments engineer died Monday in Dallas. TI announced the death Tuesday.
Kilby was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000 for his role in the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958.
The integrated circuit consolidated the functions of transistors and other electronic components on a single chip the size of a paper clip.
Although he had officially retired in the early 1980s, Kilby continued to have a “significant relationship” with the company until his death.
Texas Instruments’ chairman issued a statement saying Kilby is in a class of inventors that includes Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Survivors include two daughters and five granddaughters.