Ex-Intel CEO Andy Grove, a Holocaust survivor, dies at 79

Andy Grove, a Holocaust survivor who would revolutionize the personal computer industry as chairman of Intel, has died.

Grove, who survived the Holocaust living under a false name, died Monday at 79, Intel announced the following day. Grove was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2000 and contributed toward research for a cure.

Grove was present at the founding of Intel in 1968, becoming the company’s president in 1979 and CEO in 1987. He played a critical role in the decision to move Intel’s focus from memory chips to microprocessors and led the firm’s transformation into a widely recognized consumer brand.

He was a noted scientist, earning a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He held several patents on semiconductor devices and wrote over 40 technical papers. He also was the author of several books.

Grove was born András István Gróf to middle-class Jewish parents in Budapest, Hungary. When the Nazis occupied Hungary, Grove and his mother were hidden by non-Jewish friends under assumed names. He escaped into Austria during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, immigrating to the United States in 1957.

He donated $26 million to the City College of New York in 2006 to help establish the Grove School of Engineering.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of former Intel Chairman and CEO Andy Grove,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. “Andy made the impossible happen, time and again, and inspired generations of technologists, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.”

He and his wife, Eva, also a refugee from Europe whom he met while working at a resort in New Hampshire, were married for 58 years.