Bill Spencer

William J. Spencer was named Chairman Emeritus of the International SEMATECH Board in November 2000 after serving as Chairman of SEMATECH and International SEMATECH Boards since July 1996. He came to SEMATECH in October 1990 as President and Chief Executive Officer. He continued to serve as President until January 1997 and CEO until November 1997. During this time, SEMATECH became totally privately funded and expanded to include non-US members. Many gave SEMATECH part of the credit for the US semiconductor turn around in the 90's

Spencer has held key research and management positions at Xerox Corporation, Bell Laboratories and Sandia National Laboratories. Before joining SEMATECH in October 1990, he was Group Vice President and Senior Technical Officer at Xerox Corporation in Stamford, Connecticut from 1986 to 1990. He established new research centers in Europe and developed a plan for Xerox retaining ownership in spin-out companies.

Prior to joining the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) as manager of the Integrated Circuit Laboratory in 1981 and as the Center Manager of PARC from 1982 to 1986, Spencer served as Director of Systems Development from 1978 to 1981 at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, and Director of Microelectronics at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque from 1973 to 1978, where he developed a silicon processing facility for Department of Energy needs. He began his career in 1959 at Bell Laboratories.

Spencer received the Regents Meritorious Service Medal from the University of New Mexico in 1981; the C. B. Sawyer Award for contribution to "The Theory and Development of Piezoelectric Devices" in 1972; and a Citation for Achievement from William Jewell College in 1969, where he also received an Doctor of Science degree in 1990. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of IEEE, and serves on numerous advisory groups and boards including as advisor to the Premier of Taiwan. He was the Regents Professor at the University of California in the Spring of l998. In 2003, he received the IEEE award for engineering leadership. He has been a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Engineering and the Haas School of Business and has taught at the University of Texas in Austin. He is a Research Professor of Medicine at the University of New Mexico.

Spencer received an A.B. degree from William Jewell College an M.S. degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in physics from Kansas State University. He is married to the former Joan Sherrill and they have two daughters.