Albert Yu
Feb. 10, 1945-March 11, 2017
Los Altos Hills, California
Pioneer. Visionary Silicon Valley technologist. Mentor to immigrants. Music lover and orchestra conductor. A deeply caring husband and father.
Dr. Albert Yu was all of these. He died peacefully at age 76 on March 11, 2017 in Palo Alto, California after having endured several significant medical challenges.
Born in Shanghai, China in 1941, Albert Y.C. Yu was raised there and in Taiwan by parents Marina (Chan) & I.T. Yu. After a year in Hong Kong, he emigrated to California to attend CalTech (1963), and afterwards, Stanford University where he received a PhD in Electrical Engineering (1967).
After beginning his high-tech career at Fairchild Semiconductor, Albert was recruited by Intel Corporation. Over an extraordinary 30-year career there, he ultimately became Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Microprocessor Products Group – the heart of the company’s business – as well as overseeing its worldwide research labs. Albert was jointly responsible for the design and architecture of over 1 billion chips, including the 386, 486 and Pentium processors. His technology and research and development leadership helped propel Intel microprocessors into becoming the brains for computing at the dawn of the Internet age.
A true Silicon Valley visionary, Albert became an entrepreneur in 1977 when he left Intel Corp. to found VideoBrain, one of the first consumer home computer manufacturers. Two years later, he started a company to sell microcomputers in the closed Chinese marketplace.
In 1981, he returned to Intel for good and became a key contributor to both the business and corporate culture. After retiring in 2002, Albert focused on his longstanding efforts to mentor and culturally integrate Asian-American engineers. Using his stature as one of the first and most senior Asian technology executives, he furthered his legacy by co-developing a groundbreaking nationwide mentorship curriculum as a member of the Committee of 100.
He was also an active, involved investor in startups both locally and internationally, sitting on numerous Boards and identifying the next generation of tech innovators.
Albert received many awards and honors for his technical and business savvy as well as his commitment to mentoring and philanthropy. He was a founding member of CalTech’s IST Advisory Board and was named a CalTech Distinguished Alumnus (2011). At Stanford University, Albert was a Consulting Professor, involved in areas as diverse as medicine, music, brain research and Asian studies. He was the author of two bestsellers: "Insider’s View of Intel" (1995, Chinese) and "Creating the Digital Future" (1998, Free Press) and over thirty technical papers.
In addition to his many significant accomplishments, Albert was revered for being a loving husband and father. He was a superb, ever-available listener -- a caring, candid and forthright man with an intense and wide-ranging intellectual curiosity. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Mary Bechmann, his children (from a previous marriage) Laurence and Audrey, and four grandchildren. May he rest in peace after a lifetime of hard work, devoted service and great accomplishment built from humble beginnings.
Let his memory be a blessing to us all.
Tags: business
