Retired Texas Instruments inventor and engineer Jack Kilby received the Nobel Prize in Physics on December 10. 2000 for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit at TI in 1958. His Majesty the King of Sweden presented the prize to Mr. Kilby during an award ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

"It was a tremendous honor to be selected for the Nobel Prize. I was pleased, delighted and surprised to have been chosen. The Nobel events here in Stockholm have made this a truly memorable experience that is to be savored and cherished," Mr. Kilby said.

Mr. Kilby was one of three Laureates selected in Physics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, honored for "basic work on communication and information technology." Mr. Kilby was awarded one-half of the prize, with the other half jointly shared by Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer for their work in for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics.

Mr. Kilby delivered his Laureate Lecture on "Turning Potential into Realities: The Invention of the Integrated Circuit." He spoke to an audience of about 800 on the campus of Stockholm University, where students, teachers, journalists and members of the Royal Swedish Academy were in attendance.

The integrated circuit has long been noted as the single most important invention of the Information Age and has spawned entire generations of electronics devices and control systems. Since the chip's invention, microelectronics has become the basis of all modern technology, powering a range of technologies from desktop and mainframe computers and communications equipment. In addition, processors are used to control everything from cars to sophisticated machinery and diagnostic equipment. Invention of the chip gave rise to the modern computer era. Today, it is powering the Internet Age, the next generation of high-speed digital communications, satellite transmissions and multifunctional wireless handheld devices and continues to enable increasingly complex, more reliable and cost-effective electronics.