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THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Date: January 11, 2005 Adjournment
On this date the Board of Supervisors adjourned this meeting in memory of
Donald 0. Pederson, a noted former University of Califomia-Berkeley
electronics professor and researcher, died December 25, 2004 from
complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 79 years.
THIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY
NO BOARD ACTION WAS TAKEN
Betty Fisher To: Julie Enea/CAO/CCC@CCC
01/05/2005 08:24 AMcc: (bcc:Lena O'Neal/COB/CCC)
Subject:
Posted on Tue, Jan. 04, 2005
D. Pederson, called 'giant' in electronics
DEVELOPED COMPUTER SIMULATION PROGRAM
By Theresa Harrington
Knight Ridder
CONCORD-Donald O. Pederson, a noted former University of California-Berkeley electronics
professor and researcher, died Dec. 25 from complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 79.
Mr. Pederson was internationally recognized for his contributions to integrated electronics and
design technology.
"He is certainly one of the most distinguished engineers or scientists that the University of
California has every had the honor of hosting," said Richard Newton, dean of the college of
engineering at Berkeley. "If there was a Nobel Prize for engineering, he would have won it."
Calling his former professor a brilliant visionary,Newton said Mr. Pederson's legacies at
Berkeley are many.
"He was an amazing man, a giant in the field. He was someone who really changed the world."
Mr. Pederson developed the first integrated circuit research laboratory in the 1960s and pioneered
contributions that were picked up by corporations, such as the Simulation Program with
Integrated Circuit Emphasis, a computer program designed to simulate analog electronic circuits.
.It's as common in.our industry as Google,"Newton said.
Mr. Pederson made Spice available free to the public, with the understanding that anyone who
could improve on it would give their ideas to UC-Berkeley so the program could be redistributed,
Newton said.
Professor Emeritus David Hodges, who also studied under Mr. Pederson, said his mentor taught
students to work collaboratively.
"He was saying, 'Let's cooperate with these folks' instead of, 'Let's compete with them,"'
Hodges said.
Born in 1925 in Minnesota,Mr. Pederson earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering
from North Dakota University in 1948 and his master's and doctorate in electrical engineering
from Stanford University in 1949 and 1951. He was awarded an honorary doctor of applied
science by the Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven,Belgium, in 1979.
Mr. Pederson worked in Stanford's electronics research lab from 1951 to 1953, then worked for
Bell Telephone Laboratories before joining UC-Berkeley in 1955. He later became chairman of
the electronics department there. He retired in 1991,but continued teaching part-time,until his
Parkinson's disease made it too difficult, said his wife,Karen Pederson, 69, of Walnut Creek.
"He was devoted to his students," she said. "He always called them his kids."
UC-Berkeley dedicated the Donald 0. Pederson Center for Electronic Systems Design in 2001,
honoring the professor's contributions to computer aided design(CAD). But Mr. Pederson's
greatest legacy is the inspiration he gave to his former students,who have gone on to become
internationally renowned engineers,Newton and Hodges said.
"No one can match him,"Newton said. "Don was the master."
Mr. Pederson died at the Stonebrook Healthcare Center in Concord. He is survived by his wife,
four children, four grandchildren, two stepsons and their families.
Betty Fisher, Chief of Staff
District IV, supervisor Mark aeSaulnier
2425 Bisso Lane, #190
Concord, California 94520
Phone: {925}646-5703 FAX{925}646-5767
e-mail: bfish@bos.cccounty.us