NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Recognized for Semiconductor Industry Contributions

Huang receives Robert N. Noyce Award as NVIDIA reports record revenue.

NIVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. (Source: Semiconductor Industry Association.)

NIVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. (Source: Semiconductor Industry Association.)

Earlier this month, the Semiconductor Industry Association bestowed NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang with the 2021 Robert N. Joyce Award, an industry honor presented annually at the SIA Award Dinner for over two decades. This year’s event will be held on November 18 at the San Jose Marriott.

“Jensen Huang’s extraordinary vision and tireless execution have greatly strengthened our industry, revolutionized computing, and advanced artificial intelligence,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Jensen’s accomplishments have fueled countless innovations—from gaming to scientific computing to self-driving cars—and he continues to advance technologies that will transform our industry and the world. We’re pleased to recognize Jensen with the 2021 Robert N. Noyce Award for his many achievements in advancing semiconductor technology.”

Huang founded NVIDIA in 1993 and has been CEO and on the board of directors for the duration of the company’s existence, having previously worked at LSI Logic and Advanced Micro Devices. He holds a BSEE degree from Oregon State University and an MSEE degree from Stanford University.

Initially focusing on 3D graphics, NVIDIA thrust the gaming technology market into a multibillion-dollar global entertainment industry. Now the company has set its sights on the transformative power of AI, autonomous vehicles and robotics. It more recently launched NVIDIA Omniverse, a simulation platform that runs realistic virtual worlds that can connect with many digital platforms.

In addition to the recent award, Huang has received the IEEE Founder’s Medal, the Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, and honorary doctorate degrees from Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan University, and Oregon State University.

In 2017, Huang earned the moniker of Businessperson of the Year by Fortune. In addition, Harvard Business Review ranked Huang No. 1 on its list of the world’s 100 best-performing CEOs in 2019.

“I am honored to receive the 2021 Noyce Award and do so on behalf of my colleagues at NVIDIA, whose body of work this award recognizes,” said Huang. “It has been the greatest joy and privilege to have grown up with the semiconductor and computer industries, two that so profoundly impact the world. As we enter the era of AI, robotics, digital biology, and the metaverse, we will see super-exponential technology advances. There’s never been a more exciting or important time to be in the semiconductor and computer industries.”

Robert N. Noyce, the namesake of the SIA-bestowed award, was a semiconductor industry pioneer and founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel Corporation in 1957 and 1968, respectively. Earning the nickname “the Mayor of Silicon Valley,” Noyce is credited with developing the first microchip giving rise to personal computers.

The award coincides with NVIDIA’s report of record-high revenue for Q2 2021 with $6507M. Q1 revenue was reported as $5661M. Huang commented that NVIDIA’s pioneering work in accelerated computing advances graphics, scientific computing and AI. During Q2, NVIDIA launched NVIDIA Base Command and Fleet Command to develop, deploy, scale and orchestrate the AI workloads that run on the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software suite, Huang said.