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Aart de Geus
Aart J. de Geus (born June 1954) is a co-founder and executive chair of Synopsys Inc., where he was CEO until January 2024.
De Geus graduated with a master's degree in electrical engineering (1978) from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of technology), EPFL, Switzerland followed by a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University, Texas, United States, in 1985. De Geus was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the University of Glasgow in 2022.
De Geus is one of the original pioneers of electronic design automation (EDA), the software tools used in the semiconductor industry to design chips. De Geus was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2019 for leadership and technical contributions to logic synthesis for integrated circuits. He is also a fellow of IEEE and a Phil Kaufman Award winner. He received the IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal for his leadership in the technology and business development of EDA, as well as the Robert N. Noyce award from the Semiconductor Industry Association. He is a board member of the Global Semiconductor Association (GSA) and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
De Geus is also the lead guitarist of Silicon Valley's 'Legally Blue' blues band.
De Geus was born in Vlaardingen, Netherlands. He emigrated to the French-speaking part of Switzerland at age 4 in 1958 and then to the German-speaking town of Basel for high school and undergraduate studies where he went to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. In 1979, Aart moved to the United States for grad school. As a result, de Geus speaks multiple languages, including English, German, Swiss-German, French, and Dutch. De Geus completed his undergraduate degree at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland and earned his master's in electrical engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He received his Ph.D. at Southern Methodist University (SMU).
At SMU, de Geus met the Electrical Computer Engineering Department chair, Ron Rohrer. Rohrer was the father of the circuit simulation program SPICE and became de Geus' academic advisor for his education and early career. While remaining a professor at SMU, Rohrer joined General Electric (GE) in 1982. After completing his coursework, de Geus followed Rohrer to GE while finishing his Ph.D. dissertation at night in 1985.
De Geus started his career at GE with Rohrer, leading a team that developed tools including the Synthesis and Optimization of Combinational logic, using a Rule-based and Technology-independent Expert System (SOCRATES) synthesis program.
When GE removed itself from the semiconductor business, de Geus met with Ed Hood, Vice Chair of GE, and convinced GE to support a spin-off of the synthesis technology with an additional $400,000 investment in return for equity in a new venture. With two members of his original GE team, David Gregory and Bill Krieger, de Geus founded Optimal Solutions Inc. in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina on December 18, 1986.
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Aart de Geus
Aart J. de Geus (born June 1954) is a co-founder and executive chair of Synopsys Inc., where he was CEO until January 2024.
De Geus graduated with a master's degree in electrical engineering (1978) from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of technology), EPFL, Switzerland followed by a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University, Texas, United States, in 1985. De Geus was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the University of Glasgow in 2022.
De Geus is one of the original pioneers of electronic design automation (EDA), the software tools used in the semiconductor industry to design chips. De Geus was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2019 for leadership and technical contributions to logic synthesis for integrated circuits. He is also a fellow of IEEE and a Phil Kaufman Award winner. He received the IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal for his leadership in the technology and business development of EDA, as well as the Robert N. Noyce award from the Semiconductor Industry Association. He is a board member of the Global Semiconductor Association (GSA) and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
De Geus is also the lead guitarist of Silicon Valley's 'Legally Blue' blues band.
De Geus was born in Vlaardingen, Netherlands. He emigrated to the French-speaking part of Switzerland at age 4 in 1958 and then to the German-speaking town of Basel for high school and undergraduate studies where he went to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. In 1979, Aart moved to the United States for grad school. As a result, de Geus speaks multiple languages, including English, German, Swiss-German, French, and Dutch. De Geus completed his undergraduate degree at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland and earned his master's in electrical engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He received his Ph.D. at Southern Methodist University (SMU).
At SMU, de Geus met the Electrical Computer Engineering Department chair, Ron Rohrer. Rohrer was the father of the circuit simulation program SPICE and became de Geus' academic advisor for his education and early career. While remaining a professor at SMU, Rohrer joined General Electric (GE) in 1982. After completing his coursework, de Geus followed Rohrer to GE while finishing his Ph.D. dissertation at night in 1985.
De Geus started his career at GE with Rohrer, leading a team that developed tools including the Synthesis and Optimization of Combinational logic, using a Rule-based and Technology-independent Expert System (SOCRATES) synthesis program.
When GE removed itself from the semiconductor business, de Geus met with Ed Hood, Vice Chair of GE, and convinced GE to support a spin-off of the synthesis technology with an additional $400,000 investment in return for equity in a new venture. With two members of his original GE team, David Gregory and Bill Krieger, de Geus founded Optimal Solutions Inc. in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina on December 18, 1986.
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