It is often said that Frederick Terman, the post-World War II Dean of Stanford University was the essential founder of what was later called, Silicon Valley.
“When Dr Frederick Terman died in 1982 at age 82, he was vice president and provost emeritus of Stanford University, an engineer, a husband, and a dad. But most technology folks know him as a pioneer – and a founder of Silicon Valley, due to his mentorship of students and the creation of the Stanford Industrial Park in 1951. His idea of associating the industry more closely with the university was revolutionary, many say. “Frederick fueled partnerships between northern California’s electronics companies and academia, courted tech companies to move to the industrial park to help his graduates find work, and drove excellence in how scientists and engineers trained. He “made Stanford a well of ideas, experts and books”, the New York Times noted in his obituary. And he offered priceless mentorship to students like Bill Hewlett and David Packard, who founded the computer company Hewlett-Packard, now called HP. As Frederick told HP’s Measure magazine in 1973: “Creating a center of high-technology industry on the [San Francisco] Peninsula was our goal.” It seems he succeeded. Silicon Valley now houses some of the world’s best-known tech companies, including Apple, HP, Google, Cisco, Netflix and Facebook.”
The Guardian Labs
GSV|connect 