This year, Craig R. Barrett, retired chief executive officer, CEO and chairman of the board of Intel Corporation, will be the speaker at this yearís James R. Wilson Lecture.
For another year, The College of Wooster will be presenting the James R. Wilson Lecture Series. The series is supported by the James R. Wilson Fund in the Business Economics department. The fund was established in 2001 as a gift from James R. and Linda R. Wilson. The series has consistently brought leaders in the financial sector and business intellectuals to The College to share their insights with students, faculty, staff and the rest of the Wooster community.
In previous years, the Business Economics department had hosted Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment; Donald Kohn, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve; and Katharine Lee Reid, former director of The Cleveland Museum of Art.
In 1974, Barrett joined the team at Intel Corporation, starting out as a technology development manager. After his graduation from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in Materials Science, he returned as faculty to join the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
By 1984, he was appointed vice president of the Intel Corporation. In 1987, he was promoted to senior vice president and executive vice president three years later. He was elected to the board of Intel in 1992 and named the companyís chief operating officer in 1993. He was also elected president and chief executive officer in 1997 and 1998 respectively, as well as chairman of the board in 2005.
Apart from getting his bachelorís degree, masterís degree and doctorate from Stanford University, Barrett perfected the process for manufacturing Intelís powerful microprocessors. He is also the author of more than 40 technical papers related to the influence of microstructure on the properties of materials. In addition, he is the author of a materials science textbook called Principles of Engineering Materials.
ìU.S. Competitiveness in the 21st Century” is this yearís theme at the Lecture Series. Prior to Barrettís retirement from Intel last May, in an interview with Fortune magazine, he identified three levers that different nations can manipulate and use to improve their competitiveness .
According to the Woosterís Office of Public Information, Barrett told Fortune, ìone of them is the education lever ó thatís where the smart people come from. If there arenít enough smart people, game over.”
Barrett further stated that ìthe next one is smart ideas, and thatís investing in R&D. If you donít do that, you donít add value. And the last one is to provide the right environment. In the company, thatís getting smart people with good ideas together and just letting them do their thing. And at the national level, the right environment involves tax rates and regulatory climate, encouraging the availability of venture capital, and building the right social attitudes.”
Barrett will present on the United Statesí current situation with each of the three levers, as well as what can be done to improve the countryís competitiveness.
Barrettís lecture, free and open to the public, will be held on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Gault Recital Hall of Scheide Music Center.