Lisa Su

Lisa Su. She is a Taiwanese-American electrical engineer and business executive who serves as the president, chief executive officer, and chair of the board of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Under her leadership, AMD transformed from a financially struggling company into a formidable competitor in the semiconductor industry, renowned for its high-performance CPUs and GPUs. Su is widely credited with revitalizing the company's technology roadmap and market position through strategic bets on key architectures and manufacturing partnerships.

Early life and education

Born in Tainan, her family immigrated to the United States when she was young, settling in New York City. Demonstrating an early aptitude for mathematics and science, she attended the Bronx High School of Science, a prestigious specialized public high school. Su subsequently earned her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her doctoral research, supervised by professor Dimitri Antoniadis, focused on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, a foundational element for future semiconductor advancements.

Career at IBM and Freescale

Su began her professional career at Texas Instruments before joining IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1995. At IBM, she held various technical and management roles, making significant contributions to the development of copper interconnect technology and pioneering work on silicon-germanium semiconductors for high-speed communications. Her expertise led to her appointment as vice president of IBM's Semiconductor Research and Development Center. In 2007, she joined Freescale Semiconductor as chief technology officer, later ascending to senior vice president and general manager of the company's networking and multimedia group, where she oversaw global strategy for embedded processors.

Leadership at AMD

Su joined Advanced Micro Devices in January 2012 as senior vice president and general manager of the global business units, charged with driving end-to-end business execution. She was promoted to chief operating officer in 2014, overseeing the company's computing and graphics business groups. In October 2014, she was named president and chief executive officer, succeeding Rory Read. Upon taking the helm, she initiated a strategic refocusing, streamlining the product portfolio and betting the company's future on high-performance computing. Critical decisions included accelerating the development of the Zen microarchitecture for CPUs and the RDNA architecture for GPUs, while securing a pivotal manufacturing partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). This strategy led to the successful launches of the Ryzen and Epyc processor families and the Radeon graphics line, dramatically improving competitiveness against rivals like Intel and Nvidia and driving a historic turnaround in AMD's financial performance and market valuation.

Awards and recognition

Su has received extensive acclaim for her engineering and leadership achievements. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Her honors include the prestigious IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal, the Semiconductor Industry Association's Robert N. Noyce Award, and the Global Semiconductor Alliance's Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award. She has been named "Businessperson of the Year" by Fortune magazine, included in the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people, and ranked among the most powerful women in business by Forbes and Fortune. She also serves on the boards of the Global Semiconductor Alliance and Cisco Systems.

Personal life

Su maintains a relatively private personal life. She is married and has stated that her parents, particularly her mother, a skilled accountant who later ran her own business, were major inspirations for her work ethic and career. An advocate for STEM education and diversity in technology fields, she actively participates in initiatives to encourage more young people, especially women, to pursue careers in engineering and science. In her limited spare time, she is known to be an avid reader and enjoys spending time with her family.

Category:American chief executives Category:American electrical engineers Category:Advanced Micro Devices people