Guide to the Don Liddie papers on Signetics - Computer History ...

<strong>Guide</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Don</strong> <strong>Liddie</strong> <strong>papers</strong> on Signetics X4609.2008
Biographical and Administrative Timeline
Signetics, a contraction of Signal Network Electronics, was founded in 1961 in Mountain
View, California by former Fairchild employees David Allison, David James, Lionel
Kattner and Mark Weissenstein. It was <strong>the</strong> first company in <strong>the</strong> world established
expressly <strong>to</strong> make and sell integrated circuits (IC). Within a year of its founding, <strong>the</strong>
company’s first family of bipolar digital diode transis<strong>to</strong>r logic circuits had gained market
acceptance and were finding initial application in military and space systems. Signetics
was <strong>the</strong> first IC company <strong>to</strong> receive both Minuteman approval (1967) and NASA line
certification (1970). Among <strong>the</strong> company’s early innovations were <strong>the</strong> 555 timer, Dolby
circuits, and <strong>the</strong> programmable read-only memory.
1930 July 23 <strong>Don</strong>ald Ferguson <strong>Liddie</strong> is born in Newark, New Jersey
1952 <strong>Liddie</strong> graduates from LeHigh University with a BS in
Industrial Engineering
1952 June-1954 Aug. <strong>Liddie</strong> is Industrial Engineer, Western Electric Company
1954 Aug.-1956 Aug. <strong>Liddie</strong> is Assistant Industrial Engineer, Edgewood Arsenal
U.S. Army Chemical Center
1956 Aug.-1959 June <strong>Liddie</strong> is Senior Industrial Engineer, Corning Glass Works
1959 June-1961 Sept. <strong>Liddie</strong> is Plant Industrial Engineer, Corning Glass Works
1961 Sept.-1963 Sept. <strong>Liddie</strong> is Plant Supervisor-Administrative Services, Corning
Glass Works
1961 Sept. 12 Signetics is founded by former Fairchild employees Dave
Allison, David James, Lionel Katttner and Mark
Weissenstern
1962 Construction of first Signetics plant is completed, Sunnyvale,
California
1962 Nov. Corning Glass Works (CGW) acquires a 51% equity position
in Signetics
1963 Sept. 1 <strong>Liddie</strong> is first CGW employee <strong>to</strong> transfer <strong>to</strong> Signetics
1963 Sept.-1966 Jan. <strong>Liddie</strong> is Manager, Manufacturing at Signetics
1964 Dec. Corning Glass Works increases <strong>the</strong>ir equity position <strong>to</strong> 82%
1966 Jan.-1968 Dec. <strong>Liddie</strong> is Manager, Corporate Services at Signetics
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