The University of Texas at Dallas

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science

Content

Adversity Breeds Opportunity

Adversity Breeds Opportunity

11:00 a.m., Friday, Feb. 21
TI Auditorium (ECSS 2.102)


Dr. Walden C. Rhines

Mentor, a Siemens Business

ABSTRACT: Loss to competitors Intel Corp. and Motorola Inc. in the race to become a microprocessor powerhouse contributed to TI’s steady decline from the number one semiconductor market share in the 1970s to number five in the 1980s. The hopelessness of TI’s situation left a small group in Houston with the freedom to look beyond the next few years to develop game-changing, application specific processors including the first successful single-chip digital signal processor. The speaker, who managed TI’s microprocessor business at that time, will relate the history of how TI used defeat as an opportunity to spring back to rapid growth and leadership in the industry. The lessons learned from this difficult period of innovation remain relevant in today’s high technology product development environment.

BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Walden C. Rhines is Chief Executive Officer Emeritus of Mentor, a Siemens business, focusing on external communications and customer relations. He was previously CEO of Mentor Graphics for 25 years and Chairman of the Board for 17 years. During his tenure at Mentor, revenue nearly quadrupled and market value of the company increased tenfold.

Prior to joining Mentor Graphics, Rhines was an executive vice president at Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) Semiconductor Group responsible for TI’s worldwide semiconductor business. During his 21 years at TI, he was president of the data systems group and held numerous other semiconductor executive management positions.

Rhines has served on the boards of Cirrus Logic Inc., QORVO, TriQuint Semiconductor, GlobalLogic, and as chairman of the Electronic Design Automation Consortium for five two-year terms where he is currently a director. He is also a board member of the Semiconductor Research Corp. and First Growth Children and Family Charities. He is a Fellow of IEEE and has served on the board of trustees of Lewis and Clark College, the National Advisory Board of the University of Michigan and Industrial Committees advising Stanford University and the University of Florida.

Rhines holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science and PhD in materials science and engineering from Stanford University, a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and Honorary Doctor of Technology degrees from the University of Florida and Nottingham Trent University.