Scott A. McGregor

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Scott A. McGregor
Head and shoulders picture of Scott A. McGregor in 2012
Scott A. McGregor in 2012
Born1956 (age 67–68)
NationalityAmerican
EducationStanford University (BS, MS)
Occupations
  • Software developer
  • technology executive
  • philanthropist
Years active1978–present
Known for
SpouseLaurie Girand[1]
Children3

Scott A. McGregor (born 1956) is an American technology executive and philanthropist. He was the lead developer of Windows 1.0 (the first release of Microsoft Windows), he was the CEO of Philips Semiconductors from 2001 to 2004, and was the CEO of Broadcom from 2005 until its acquisition in 2016.

Early life and education[edit]

McGregor was born in and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri.[2] He moved to Wilmington, Delaware during high school and graduated from Concord High School in 1974, where he was part of the chess team and Chairman of the debate team.[3] While in Delaware, he competed and was named a runner-up in the 1974 Westinghouse Science Talent Search.[4][2] Beginning in 1974, he attended Stanford University, where he studied computer science with a focus on artificial intelligence. He graduated in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Computer Science and Computer Engineering.[2]

Career[edit]

1978–1998: Software industry[edit]

Starting in his senior year at Stanford, McGregor worked for Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC). There, he joined a small software engineering team that helped create the windowing system for the Xerox Star—the first personal computer with a graphical user interface (instead of the text-based interfaces which preceded them).[5] McGregor worked on the operating systems's windowing system (the "Cedar Viewers Window Systems"), the first system to display multiple programs at once.[6]

In 1983, McGregor was recruited by Bill Gates to join Microsoft, to be the developer team lead for Windows 1.0—the company's first graphical user interface-based operating system.[7] McGregor led the Interactive Systems Group, which began with a staff of three, characteristic of Microsoft's small development teams.[5][8] In this role, the authors of a 1994 book said "his big-systems orientation" was seen as misaligned with the team's limited x86 PC environment, but described him as a "charismatic ideas guy" and an "articulate academic".[9]

McGregor's first objective was to "figure out what Windows ought to be and deliver it to the world."[9] At the time, Microsoft's proposed product didn't have a complete product specification.[9] But in November 1983 McGregor flew with Gates and Steve Ballmer to New York's Plaza Hotel for a press event, where Windows was announced with support commitments from 23 computer manufacturers.[9] In a later interview, McGregor said Microsoft "basically announced the product when we hadn't even designed it yet."[5][9]

Gates' initial perspective, in 1983, had been that the development would be just a set of subroutines that individual applications would add to enable windowing; at the time, the product was going to be called "Interface Manager".[9][5][10] But McGregor had written the window manager component for PARC's complete, interactive programming environment, and had called his PARC software "Windows". As the project grew in scope, it was McGregor's term that became the name for Microsoft Windows.[10] The team grew as well, expanding to more than 30 members by the time they were fully staffed, making it Microsoft's single largest development group.[5][9][8] At Microsoft during this time, Gates and McGregor interviewed every technical candidate.[5]

After leaving Microsoft, McGregor joined Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC, now part of HP) as the Program Architect for DECwindows, where he was the co-author of the X Window System, Version 11 (also known as X11) in 1990 (the most current release as of 2020).[11][12] He went on to lead DEC's Western Software Laboratory in Palo Alto, including the company's ULTRIX workstation software.[11] In the mid-1990s, McGregor moved to Santa Cruz Operation, where he joined as the Senior Vice President of Products, and later became the company's Senior Vice President and General Manager.[13]

1998–2016: Semiconductors[edit]

In 1998, McGregor was hired to lead Philips Semiconductors' Emerging Business unit, a newly-formed incubator where "promising technologies and products could be developed".[14][15] The unit focused on rapidly growing markets such as networking, digital media, and RFID.[16] By 2001, the unit had grown to nearly $1 billion in sales; that September, he was promoted to be President and CEO of Philips Semiconductors[17][15][2] (now NXP Semiconductors)—one of Philips' five main divisions at the time, and the world's sixth-largest semiconductor company, with 35,000 employees.[18][19] The unit had been unprofitable for several years; under McGregor, the unit became profitable.[20] McGregor resigned from the role in late 2004 citing a wish to return to the U.S. for his children's school, after living abroad.[19][21][22] Philips CEO Gerard Kleisterlee said of McGregor's departure, "We regret to see him leave. He has led the Semiconductors division through one of the most difficult periods in its history and managed to turn it around successfully into a leaner business with a strong focus on innovation."[21]

In October 2004, it was announced that McGregor would be hired as the next President and CEO of chipmaker Broadcom, one of the biggest producers of the chips used in communications equipment.[23][24][20] McGregor took over from an interim CEO as the company sought to refocus after the departure of its co-founder and former CEO Henry Nicholas, and soon a $2.24 billion stock options backdating scandal.[24][14][19] In contrast with Nicholas, observers reported in 2006 that employees found McGregor "even-keeled", and said McGregor "prides himself on his organization".[25] A 2011 interview called him both "amiable" and "brutally honest."[8] During McGregor's tenure, Broadcom grew from $2.4 billion to $8.6 billion in revenue and became a Fortune 500 company; it first entered the list in 2009,[26] and climbed to spot #327 in 2013.[27]

In a 2014 interview, McGregor commented on the semiconductor industry's scale: "It has never before been possible to get an order for 100 million of something," he said. "It also means it costs $100 million or more to start a new chip company, which is why you see an industry roll-up and no venture capitalists funding new ones."[28] He retired in 2016 upon completing Broadcom's $37 billion acquisition by Avago—part of a wave of acquisitions in the semiconductor industry,[29] and, at the time, the largest acquisition of a technology company ever.[30][31][32][33]

Board memberships[edit]

McGregor has served on the board of a number of public companies, as well as industry and nonprofit organizations. McGregor served on the board of Progress Software from 1998 to 2008.[34] And from 2003 to 2006, McGregor served on the board of TSMC.[35] During his tenure at Broadcom (from 2005 to 2016), McGregor also served on the company's board. From 2010 to 2016, McGregor served on the board of Ingram Micro (acquired in 2016 by China's HNA Group).[16][36][4] From 2016 to 2017, McGregor served on the board of directors of Xactly Corporation (acquired in 2017 by Vista Equity Partners).[37][38] In October 2017, after Equifax failed to defend a data breach of 143 million U.S. consumers' digital information, McGregor was appointed to the board of as an independent director. There, he joined its technology committee, which oversees cybersecurity.[39][40][34] In 2018, McGregor was appointed to the board of Applied Materials,[41] and from 2019–2021, McGregor was on the board of Luminar Technologies, a company developing sensors for self-driving cars.[42][43]

Awards[edit]

  • 2013: McGregor was named by Glassdoor as one of 50 CEOs with the highest employee approval rating.[44]
  • 2013: McGregor was named one of the top 100 CEO Leaders in STEM by STEMconnector.[45]
  • 2013: McGregor received UCLA's Information Systems Executive Leadership Award.[46][47]

Philanthropy[edit]

McGregor is a philanthropist focused on STEM education. In 2009, McGregor co-founded the Broadcom Foundation, and became the foundation's first president and chairman.[48][49] The foundation sponsors initiatives such as the Broadcom MASTERS, the most prominent national science and engineering competition for middle school students around the world (the middle school variant of the Regeneron Science Talent Search, also hosted by the Society for Science & the Public).[50] In creating the Broadcom Foundation, McGregor cited his own science fair involvement as a factor that contributed to his success.[48]

Since 2015, the Broadcom MASTERS competition has awarded the Scott A. McGregor Leadership Award to one middle school student elected by their peers for their leadership qualities.[51][52] The Broadcom Foundation said in 2015 that the award was named for McGregor because he had been a champion of the middle school competition "from its infancy in 2010, when it was just a 'big idea.'"[51] At the award's inaugural awards ceremony, McGregor said to the competition's finalists, "I encourage you to continue your exploration and to never be afraid to challenge yourself with new ideas."[51] After he retired from the Broadcom Foundation in 2016, McGregor joined the Board of Trustees of the Society for Science and the Public, the organization that runs both Broadcom MASTERS and the Regeneron Science Talent Search.[53][54][55] McGregor is also one of two dozen members of the Raspberry Pi Foundation,[56] and is a member of the Founding Circle of the B612 Foundation.[57] McGregor has a minor planet named after him for his work supporting STEM education.[53][58]

Together with his wife, Laurie Girand, McGregor has also supported higher learning in STEM. In 2019, they created Harvey Mudd College's chair in STEM Equity Innovation and Research.[59] In 2023, they created Stanford University's Chair of Social Ethics of Science and Technology (held by Rob Reich as of 2023).[60] And in 2021, Harvey Mudd opened the Scott A. McGregor Computer Science Center, a new, 36,000 square foot (3,300 m2) building to house the college's growing Computer Science department, along with a full-floor makerspace, a machine shop, and other community resources. It won several architecture awards for its design, including the 2023 American Institute of Architects Design Award.[61][62] The building is named for McGregor, who along with his wife, trustee Laurie Girand, was a major donor for the project.[63][64]

As of 2020, McGregor served on the board of regents for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley.[65]

Personal life[edit]

As of 2020, McGregor resides with his wife Laurie in Orange County, California.[66] His pastimes include cooking and gardening, although a 2011 interviewer called his interests "extreme varieties of these comfortable-sounding pursuits."[8] He is an avid orchid collector, having grown orchids since the age of 12. He maintains a collection of more than 500 different orchid species (along with related cloud forest and carnivorous plants) in a shade house at his home.[67][68][69] He is an occasional speaker for various Southern California orchid societies.[68][70][71]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hawthorne, Fran (December 13, 2010). Inside the FDA: The Business and Politics Behind the Drugs We Take and the Food We Eat. Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-04006-5. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d McGregor, Scott (May 30, 2009). "Branching Out in Science". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  3. ^ Peters, Scott, ed. (1974). axis '74 (Concord High School Yearbook). Vol. v. Wilmington, Delaware: W. T. Cooke Publishing, Inc. pp. 240–41. McGregor, Scott: Debate Team-Chairman 3; Chess Team 3.
  4. ^ a b The Science Talent Search (PDF). Society for Science & the Public. p. 15. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Wallace, James; Erickson, Jim (June 1, 1993). Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire. Harper Business. ISBN 978-0-88730-629-7.
  6. ^ Teitelman, Warren (June 1984). The Cedar Programming Environment: A Midterm Report and Examination (PDF) (Report). Xerox Corporation. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  7. ^ Caruso, Denise (May 7, 1984). "An Update on Windows: Developers to get package later this month". InfoWorld. Vol. 6, no. 19. p. 52. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Waters, Richard (November 27, 2011). "Tactics for conflict avoidance". Financial Times. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Manes, Stephen; Andrews, Paul (1994). Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry—and Made Himself the Richest Man in America. Simon & Schuster. pp. 240–41, 254–56, 272–75. ISBN 0-671-88074-8.
  10. ^ a b Hey, Tony; Pápay, Gyuri (December 8, 2014). The Computing Universe: A Journey Through a Revolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-316-12322-5.
  11. ^ a b McGregor, Scott (Summer 1990). "An Overview of the DECwindows Architecture" (PDF). Digital Technical Journal. 2 (3). Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Gettys, James; Karlton, Philip L.; McGregor, Scott (October 1990). "The X Window System, Version 11". Software: Practice and Experience. 20 (S2): S2/35–S2/67. doi:10.1002/spe.4380201404. S2CID 26329062.
  13. ^ Bozman, Jean S. (August 29, 1994). "New SCO Unix in sync with Windows". Computerworld. Vol. 28, no. 35. p. 10. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Scott McGregor To Take Over as Broadcom CEO". E-Commerce Times. October 26, 2004. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Scott McGregor to become new President and CEO of Philips Semiconductors". smtnet.com. Amsterdam. June 13, 2001. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor Elected to Ingram Micro Board of Directors" (Press release). Santa Ana, CA: Ingram Micro: Financial Information. June 28, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  17. ^ EDN (June 13, 2001). "Philips Semiconductors names U.S. executive to run worldwide chip operations". EDN. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  18. ^ "Company News; Philips in $1 Billion Deal for VLSI Technology". The New York Times. Reuters. May 4, 1999. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  19. ^ a b c Jander, Mary (October 26, 2004). "Broadcom Scores New CEO". lightreading.com. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Shim, Richard (April 14, 2005). "Broadcom taps ex-Philips executive as CEO". CNET. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  21. ^ a b Shim, Richard (September 22, 2004). "Philips Semi chief steps down". ZDNet. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  22. ^ Clarke, Peter (September 22, 2004). "CEO to step down from Philips Semiconductors". EDN. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  23. ^ Clark, Don (October 27, 2004). "Broadcom Hires Philips Executive To Be Its CEO". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  24. ^ a b Waters, Richard (October 26, 2004). "Broadcom names McGregor as chief". Financial Times. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  25. ^ "Broadcom Inside". Electronic Business. Vol. 32. Cahners Publishing Company. 2006. p. 46. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  26. ^ "Broadcom Corporation". Fortune 500. 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  27. ^ "Broadcom Corporation". Fortune 500. 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  28. ^ Hardy, Quentin (September 27, 2014). "100 Million Smart Things: A Conversation With Scott McGregor of Broadcom". The New York Times. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  29. ^ Arce, Nicole (May 29, 2015). "Avago To Acquire Rival Firm Broadcom For $37 Billion: Should Intel Worry?". Tech Times. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  30. ^ Roosevelt, Margot (May 29, 2015). "Broadcom to be sold to Avago in biggest tech deal ever". Orange County Register. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  31. ^ Nolter, Chris (May 28, 2015). "Avago Technologies Caps Spending Spree With $37 Billion Broadcom Buy". The Street. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  32. ^ Casacchia, Chris (February 1, 2016). "Broadcom Acquisition Closes". Orange County Business Journal. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  33. ^ Melby, Caleb; Melin, Anders (May 28, 2015). "Broadcom CEO McGregor Eligible for $67 Million Golden Parachute". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  34. ^ a b "Cybersecurity Expert Scott McGregor Joins Equifax Board". equilar.com. November 6, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  35. ^ "Form 20-F". sec.gov. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited. May 28, 2004. pp. 43–44. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  36. ^ Sai Sachin R (February 17, 2016). "China's HNA Group to buy Ingram Micro for $6 billion". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  37. ^ Rogers, Bruce (April 10, 2017). "Christopher Cabrera Builds Xactly As First Cloud-Based, Sales Compensation Management Platform". Forbes. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  38. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (May 30, 2017). "Xactly agrees to be acquired by private equity firm for $564M". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  39. ^ Nash, Kim S.; Lublin, Joann S.; Andriotis, AnnaMaria (January 10, 2018). "Boards Seek Bigger Role in Thwarting Hackers: Equifax breach triggered broad reassessment of cybersecurity oversight, experts say". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  40. ^ "Equifax Names Scott McGregor as New Independent Director" (Press release). Atlanta, Georgia: Equifax, Inc. October 26, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2020 – via PRNewswire.
  41. ^ "Applied Materials Appoints Scott McGregor to Board of Directors" (Press release). Santa Clara, CA: Applied Materials, Inc. January 23, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2020 – via GlobeNewswire.
  42. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (July 11, 2019). "Palo Alto-based Luminar raises $100M, unveils less expensive lidar sensors". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved June 21, 2020. (subscription required)
  43. ^ Pogemiller, David (June 11, 2021). "Gamestop's Big Moves; Director/Officer Moves week of June 11". The Street. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  44. ^ "50 Highest Rated CEOs (2013)". Glassdoor. February 24, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  45. ^ Schmidt, Aaron (July 19, 2013). "Broadcom Chief Scott McGregor Named One of the Top 100 STEM CEOs". Broadcom Foundation. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  46. ^ "Past Executive Leadership Award Honorees". Innovate@UCLA. UC Regents. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  47. ^ Sablan, Kevin (November 25, 2013). "Hot 25 leaders honored". The Orange County Register. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  48. ^ a b "Broadcom Creates $50M Foundation for Math, Science". ocbj.com. May 11, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2018. (subscription required)
  49. ^ "Broadcom Engineer, Helicopter Buff Visits Science Fair". ocbj.com. March 13, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2018. (subscription required)
  50. ^ Asghar, Rob (September 23, 2013). "Scott McGregor's 4 Ingredients For American Innovation". Forbes. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  51. ^ a b c Orsini, Dana (November 10, 2015). "Defining a Leader: Avery Clowes Captures Inaugural Scott A. McGregor Leadership Award". Broadcom Foundation. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  52. ^ "Broadcom MASTERS awards $100,000 in prizes at 2016 national middle school STEM competition". Society for Science & the Public. November 2, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  53. ^ a b Orsini, Dana (January 25, 2017). "Broadcom MASTERS Champion Honored with Asteroid Naming" (Press release). Broadcom Foundation. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  54. ^ "People: Scott A. McGregor". Society for Science and the Public. August 22, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  55. ^ "Mission and History". Society for Science & the Public. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  56. ^ "Governance". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  57. ^ "Founding Circle: Scott McGregor". B612 Foundation. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  58. ^ "132005 Scottmcgregor (2002 CN99)". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. February 25, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  59. ^ "Celebrating Success: The Campaign for Harvey Mudd College". Harvey Mudd College. February 22, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  60. ^ "Rob Reich". Stanford University. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  61. ^ "McGregor Computer Science Center Earns 2023 Facility Education Design". Harvey Mudd College. April 25, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  62. ^ "2023 DESIGN AWARD RECIPIENT: Harvey Mudd College, Scott A. McGregor Computer Science Center – Design for Integration". American Institute of Architects California. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  63. ^ Chalk, Liam (October 3, 2019). "HMC Celebrates Groundbreaking of New Computer Science Center". The Student Life. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  64. ^ Sen, Ananya (November 2, 2018). "Construction on McGregor Computer Science Center at HMC set to begin next year". The Student Life. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  65. ^ "Who We Are: Board of Regents". Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  66. ^ Mishra, Rajat; Santhanam, Nick (2012). At the core of communications: An interview with Broadcom's Scott McGregor (Report). McKinsey & Company. pp. 76–83.
  67. ^ Prestia, Phyllis (April–June 2019). "Growing Mediterranean Native Orchids: Serapias, Ophrys, and Orchis—An Interview with Scott McGregor". Orchid Digest. 83 (2).
  68. ^ a b "Speaker: Scott McGregor – Topic: Mediterranean Terrestrial Orchids" (PDF). Ranger. 72 (12). Orange County Orchid Society: 1. December 2018.
  69. ^ McGregor, Scott (September 2018). "Pushing Limits – Growing Orchid Species in Coastal Southern California" (PDF). The South Coast Orchid Society Newsletter. South Coast Orchid Society.
  70. ^ Halliday, Debby (March 2020). "Scott McGregor: Growing Terrestrial Orchids" (PDF). San Diego County Orchid Society Newsletter. 252. San Diego County Orchid Society: 2.
  71. ^ Fox, Roberta (June 2017). "Growing-Area Visit at the Home of Scott McGregor" (PDF). Southern California Orchid Species Society. 40 (6): 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2020.
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