NVIDIA

Earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Florida (1983) and an M.S. from Santa Clara University (1986), then held engineering and technical leadership positions at HP and Sun Microsystems before meeting future co-founders Jensen Huang and Curtis Priem at Sun and conceiving NVIDIA at a Denny's in April 1993. A recognized authority on integrated-circuit design and methodology, he has authored close to 40 patents. Has led numerous functions at NVIDIA, including IT, operations and all facets of the company's product engineering, and as Senior Vice President of Engineering oversaw the teams that developed the core GPU architectures used in the Tesla and GeForce 8000 series, where CUDA was first introduced. Most recently, he was responsible for NVIDIA's world-class research organization, which is chartered with developing the strategic technologies that will help drive the company's future growth.

Earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1982. Designed the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter—the PC industry's first graphics processor—while at Vermont Microsystems (1982–1984). As senior staff engineer at Sun Microsystems (1986–1993), architected the GX graphics products, including the world's first single chip GUI accelerator. Co-founded NVIDIA with Jensen Huang and Chris Malachowsky in 1993 and served as chief technical officer through 2003. Architected the blueprint that allows engineers to design algorithms for NVIDIA's chips, authoring approximately 200 U.S. and international patents relating to graphics and input/output systems. Stayed in the shadows as the technical lead behind NVIDIA's original chip designs; a colleague recalled "there was a saying at Nvidia to never put Curtis in front of a camera."

Earned a BS in electrical engineering from Oregon State University (1984) and an MS in electrical engineering from Stanford University. Worked at Advanced Micro Devices for about a year as a microprocessor designer before joining LSI Logic, where he rose to director of the CoreWare division. At LSI Logic, co-developed the GX graphics engine for Sun Microsystems, which contributed to revenue growth from $262 million in 1987 to $656 million in 1990. Founded NVIDIA in 1993 and has served since its inception as president and CEO. Led the company out of near-bankruptcy during the 1990s and oversaw its expansion into GPU production, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence. Has 60 direct reports and is known for reaching down into different layers of the organization, with "no task is beneath me" as a defining leadership ethos.