Richard Hodgson; Had Key Role in Semiconductor Development

Richard Hodgson, 83, a business executive and engineer who oversaw the establishment of Fairchild Semiconductor, which pioneered the semiconductor integrated circuit, a key component in early weapons and space programs, the New York Times reported. Born in a mining town in British Columbia, Hodgson studied mechanical engineering and graduated from Stanford in 1937. In 1939, he received a master’s degree in business from Harvard. He worked as a refining engineer for Standard Oil and, after the outbreak of World War II, as an aircraft design engineer at Lockheed. After stints at MIT and the Atomic Energy Commission, Hodgson founded a television laboratory firm, which licensed one of its most important discoveries to Sony Corp. That discovery was the Trinitron color TV monitor. His departure from Fairchild inspired two other executives to leave the firm. The two men, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, went on to found Intel Corp. Hodgson became an important investor and advisor in the new firm. On March 4 in Barbados as the result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.