Updated with interview below:
The renowned Semiconductor Industry Association trade group is changing the guard at the top, hiring a new president and moving its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C.
Brian Toohey (pictured right), a 42-year-old former lobbyist for the drug industry, will replace George Scalise, a dyed-in-the-wool semiconductor industry veteran who has led the SIA since 1997. The transition is an important one for the industry, which in the past five years has been America's No. 1 export industry. The chip industry is the backbone of the $1.1 trillion electronics industry that employs 6 million people in the U.S.
“No industry has done more to advance the frontiers of science and technology than the U.S. semiconductor industry,” said Toohey in a statement. “For more than 60 years, leadership in technology has been the foundation for enhancing the productivity of American workers, driving economic growth, enabling advances in medical science and health care, improving our standard of living, and ensuring national security."
The SIA has played a unique role as a lobbying group. It took pride in the fact that it was based in Silicon Valley, not Washington, and had a relatively small budget and staff. Formed in 1977 by five pioneers in the semiconductor industry, the SIA took on what it perceived as unfair competition from Japanese rivals, who were dumping chips at prices below costs in an effort to drive their American counterparts out of business. The tactics almost succeeded and even Intel had to exit the memory chip business in 1984, focusing instead on PC microprocessors. The SIA's lobbying effort succeeded, resulting in a trade pact with Japan by which that country's electronics firms agreed to stop dumping and open their market to U.S. vendors.
Lately, the SIA has concerned itself with making sure that the U.S. government maintains its investments in science and technology and properly trains young people to become engineers. It is also pushing an agenda that will keep U.S. chip companies competitive with overseas rivals, which are often subsidized by governments.
The U.S. industry bounced back and turned into a $115 billion business than employs 185,000 people in the U.S. Today, Intel remains the largest chip maker in the world, and the U.S. chip makers still dominate the business, even as global rivals arise in China, Taiwan, Japan, and Europe.
Scalise, (pictured right) who will remain with the SIA as president emeritus through the end of the year, said in a statement, “It has been a great privilege to serve as president during a period of enormous change and challenge. Today the industry is at the threshold of another major transformation as we approach the scaling limits of CMOS (standard chip manufacturing) technology. The global arena has become more competitive and consequently there are new challenges to our leadership as we make the transition to the Nanoelectronics Era. I wish Brian Toohey well as takes on his new assignment."
Toohey previously was senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). He has also held senior management positions at DEKA R&D Corporation, AirCell, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The SIA will move from San Jose, Calif., to Washington in September.
[Update with Toohey interview below]
In an interview, Toohey said that he believes the chip industry is a spectacular industry in terms of its history of innovation in everything from clean technology to medical advances.
"I have long admired it and been interested in technology issues," he said.
Toohey said the board hired him because there are an increasing number of public policy issues that could affect the fate of the chip industry and that it would be good to get the industry's voice heard among the appropriate policy makers in Washington. Those include issues such as immigration, taxation, export controls, and research into science and technology. All of those having bearing on the competitiveness of the U.S. industry.
"I am a firm believer in telling the story of the industry behind it," Toohey said. "The SIA is a fantastic organization with a tremendous history. The companies have told me there are an increasing number of policy debates and issues that will determine the industry's future and they want to make sure their voice is fully heard."
Toohey said the SIA has a staff of 15 now and it will determine soon which people will make the transition to the East Coast and whether it will hire new people as well. Toohey said he had spoken with Scalise several times and is honored to follow in his footsteps. Scalise is helping with the transition but is effectively retiring at the end of the year.