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Bob Widlar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert J. Widlar (November, 1937 – February 27, 1991) was an electronics pioneer who made his fame with Fairchild Semiconductor in the 1960s. He designed four major products for Fairchild, including the successful μA709 operational amplifier. He is also the inventor of a type of current source called the Widlar current source.
He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, taking an interest in electronics at a young age. By the age of 15 he was repairing radio and television sets.
He entered the Air Force as a technical instructor in 1958. In February of the next year, he began to take classes at the University of Colorado's Extension Center. During this time, he was working for Ball Brothers Research Corporation in Boulder, Colorado designing linear and digital circuits.
He successfully completed all of his studies at the University of Colorado and graduated in 1962 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He continued to work for Ball Brothers for another year and left for Mountain View, California in 1963 to work for Fairchild Semiconductor.
He died in February 1991 from a heart attack while jogging near his home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.