Correspondence, writings, and assorted materials from the career of American engineer Jay T. Last covering the establishment of Fairchild Semiconductor, the creation of the microelectronics industry, and the early years of Silicon Valley.

Jay T. Last (1929-2021) was an American engineer active in the early days of Silicon Valley. He completed a BS in optics at the University of Rochester in 1951 before completing a PhD in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following his graduation in 1956, he was recruited by William Shockley to join the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories. One year later, he left to establish the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation as part of the "traitorous eight" defection along with Julius Blank, Victor Grinich, Jean Hoerni, Eugene Kleiner, Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce, and C. Sheldon Roberts. While at Fairchild, Last was the Head of Integrated Circuit Development and worked to develop the first commercial silicon planar transistors. Last also led the Research & Development group at Fairchild that produced the first integrated circuit chips. In 1961, Last established Amelco Semiconductor, a division of Teledyne, Inc. Along with Jean Hoerni, Amelco developed and manufactured complex integrated circuit chips. During the 1970s, Last became Teledyne's vice president for technology. After leaving Teledyne, Last pursued interests in California art, lithography, African art, and founded the Archaeological Conservancy. Last's personal lithography collections went to the Huntington Library and his collection of African art was donated to the Fowler Museum at UCLA.

17 Linear Feet (26 manuscript boxes, 1 carton, 3 half-boxes, 6 flat-boxes)

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