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Lisa Su

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Lisa Tzwu-Fang Su is a prominent computer scientist, electrical engineer, and business executive.

Dr. Lisa Su
Dr. Lisa Su

She currently serves as the president and CEO of AMD, a major American semiconductor company. Semiconductors are the essential components that power modern electronics. Since Su took leadership in 2014, AMD has experienced massive growth. The company's market capitalization rose from approximately $3 billion to over $200 billion. This growth allowed AMD to overtake Intel in market capitalization for the first time. Her career combines deep scientific research with high-level corporate strategy.

Su's interest in engineering began with a childhood curiosity about how objects function. At age ten, she would take apart and repair her brother's remote control cars. This drive led her to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She earned three degrees from MIT, including a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1994. During her doctoral studies, she focused on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. This technique involves building transistors atop layers of insulating material to increase efficiency. Her dissertation specifically addressed extreme-submicrometer silicon-on-insulator MOSFETs.

Her professional career started with roles at Texas Instruments and IBM. While at IBM, Su served as vice president of the semiconductor research and development center. She played a critical role in developing a new manufacturing "recipe." This process allowed copper to be used for connections within semiconductor chips. Previously, companies used aluminum, but copper prevented impurities from contaminating the devices. This innovation launched in 1998 and made chips up to 20% faster.

AMD CEO Lisa Su 20150603
AMD CEO Lisa Su 20150603

Such advancements set new standards for the entire semiconductor industry.

Su also demonstrated leadership by founding the Emerging Products division at IBM. She managed this group like an internal startup with ten employees. Her team focused on biochips and low-power, broadband semiconductors. One major success was a microprocessor that improved battery life in handheld devices. Her team also collaborated with Sony and Toshiba on next-generation chips. They developed a nine-processor chip known as the Cell microprocessor. This technology eventually powered the PlayStation 3 gaming console.

After working as the chief technology officer at Freescale Semiconductor, Su joined AMD in 2012. She initially served as senior vice president of global business units. In October 2014, she was appointed president and CEO, replacing Rory Read. Su implemented a strategy to diversify AMD's products beyond the personal computer market. She worked with Microsoft and Sony to include AMD chips in the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. By February 2015, non-PC sales grew from 10 percent to roughly 40 percent. This shift focused on gaming, datacenters, and immersive platforms.

In 2017, AMD launched its Zen chip architecture, which led to the Ryzen line of CPUs. These processors gained popularity due to high thread counts and competitive pricing. This success helped AMD's CPU market share surge to nearly 11%. Su further expanded AMD's capabilities by completing a $49 billion acquisition of Xilinx in 2022. This move brought programmable systems on chip technology into the company. Her leadership has transformed AMD into a leader in high-performance computing and graphics.

Su has received numerous prestigious honors for her scientific and business contributions. In 2014, she was named Executive of the Year by EE Times. She was the first woman named Time magazine's CEO of the year in 2014, and again in 2024. In 2021, she became the first woman to receive the IEEE Robert Noyce Medal. Forbes named her the tenth most powerful woman in the world for 2025. Additionally, Time magazine identified her as one of the "Architects of AI" for 2025. Her journey reflects a profound impact on the global technology landscape.

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