Jay Last

Jay Last (1929-2021) was an American physicist, entrepreneur, and a member of the "Traitorous Eight," a group of engineers who left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory to found Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. At Fairchild, Last served as head of the physics department and contributed to the development of the planar process, a key innovation in semiconductor manufacturing. This process allowed for the mass production of integrated circuits, revolutionizing the electronics industry.

Following his departure from Fairchild, Last co-founded Amelco Semiconductor in 1961. Later in his career, he founded Teledyne Systems and served as its president. He was also involved in the founding of Xanadu Wines. Last was a significant figure in the early development of Silicon Valley and the semiconductor industry.