Charles E. Sporck, born and raised in a small town in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, graduated from Cornell University as a mechanical engineer and went to work in manufacturing for General Electric Corporation. Recruited by Fairchild Semiconductor in Mountain View, Calif., Sporck began as a production manager and rose to vice president and general manager. It was during this period that both the planar process and the integrated circuit were developed at Fairchild by Jean Hoerni and Bob Noyce. These developments, together with the manufacturing equipment and organization, became the foundation of Silicon Valley. After leaving Fairchild in the late 1960s, Sporck distinguished himself as CEO of National Semiconductor, where, under his leadership, the company became a multi-billion dollar giant. He was an active participant in the formation of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and SEMATECH. Sporck, with Richard L. Molay authored "Spinoff: A Personal History of the Industry that Changed the World," a book on the personalities and history of the Silicon Valley semiconductor industry.
