Chairman of the Board
RF Check
During his four decades of technology and business leadership, Gil has achieved a number of business, scientific and technological successes, including orchestrating the transformation of several Fortune 500 companies. Gil has served as the CEO and chairman of Apple Computer, the president, CEO and chairman of National Semiconductor, and the president of Rockwell Communication Systems, a unit of Rockwell International. The successful transformations of these companies resulted in substantial increases in investor value (estimated to be $9B). In 1998, Dr. Amelio moved into venture capital with Sienna Ventures. As planned, Sienna Ventures closed operations on December 31, 2011. In August 2005, he founded and then served as Chairman and CEO of Acquicor Technology, Inc. [AMEX: AQR] In February 2007, Acquicor merged with Jazz Semiconductor and the combined entity was named Jazz Technologies, Inc. [AMEX: JAZ] Dr. Amelio served as Chairman and CEO of the new company until his retirement in September 2008 following the merger of Jazz Technologies and Tower Semiconductor [TSEM]. Since then Gil has been instrumental in launching and guiding several new companies including 5Barz International, AirWire Technologies, ESS Technology and XOTV.
In addition, Gil is the Chairman of the Board of RF Check Incorporated, a communications safety company based in San Diego and Cubera International, a big data company based in the USA and India.
Prior to his management career, he was a successful technologist. He is responsible for the development of the first practical charge coupled (CCD) image sensor, which is used today to register images in consumer camcorders, professional video cameras, digital still cameras and in astronomical and other equipment. The CCD is the eyeball of the Hubble Space Telescope and is used extensively at observatories around the world. While not a recipient of the Nobel prize, Gil was recognized by the Nobel Committee for his work in this field.
Gil is a former director and chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association and has served on the Board of Governors of the Electronics Industries Association and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Business and Higher Education Forum. From 1996 to 2009, Dr. Amelio served as an advisor to the Malaysia Multimedia Super Corridor and to the Prime Minister of the country. His current and past directorships also include 18 years on the Board of AT&T Inc. [Chairman of HR (Compensation) Committee], InterDigital, Inc. [Chairman of Compensation Committee], Galectin Therapeutics Inc., Chiron Corp., Sematech, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board (one term as chairman) and the American Film Institute.
Gil is an IEEE Fellow and has been awarded 17 patents. Gil has also been the recipient of numerous awards including the Florida International University (FIU) Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Ga. Tech Business Achievement Award, the National Management Association's Silver Knight of Management Award, the Masara Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award from the country of Japan and the Albert Einstein Award from the country of Israel.
In 1991, then President Bush asked Dr. Amelio to chair the 50th anniversary celebration of the U. S. Savings Bond effort. He brought together 50 Fortune 500 CEO’s as well as numerous celebrities from the arts and the public sector to draw attention to this important program.
Gil is an author or co-author of three books: An American Imperative (1993), Profit from Experience (1995), On the Firing Line (1998). The latter two were business book best sellers. Profit from Experience continues to be available from Amazon (5-Star rating).
Gil earned his BS, MS and PhD in physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Amelio and his wife Charlene live in Reno, NV near Lake Tahoe on the side of Mount Rose. He is an air-transport rated jet pilot with more than 3700 hours of flying time and he is typed in three jets including the Gulfstream 100 jet as well as the Cessna Citation and Dassault Falcon families of airplanes. Dr. Amelio retired from piloting when he turned 65 years of age.