Ted Hoff
Intel engineer who conceived the architecture of the first microprocessor
- Age
- 89 yrs
- Birthday in 356 days
- Works listed
- 1
- Design
- Honours
- 2
- Most recent 2009
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Ted Hoff is an American engineer who, as Intel’s twelfth employee, proposed the architecture of the Intel 4004 in 1969 — a single general-purpose processor chip instead of many custom chips. The 4004, released in 1971, was the first commercial microprocessor.
Biography
Education
Hoff studied electrical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned his PhD at Stanford in 1962, where he co-developed the LMS adaptive filter algorithm with Bernard Widrow.
Intel
Hoff joined Intel in 1968. When the Japanese company Busicom asked Intel to build a set of custom chips for a calculator, Hoff proposed a simpler design with a programmable general-purpose processor. With Stanley Mazor he defined its architecture, and Federico Faggin and Masatoshi Shima designed the chip.
Later career
Hoff worked on other Intel products, then became vice-president of technology at Atari in 1983. He later worked as a technical consultant.
Honours
He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1996, shared the Kyoto Prize in 1997 and received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2009.
Timeline
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1937
Born in Rochester, New York, United States
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1962
PhD from Stanford
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1968
Joins Intel as employee number 12
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1969
Proposes the 4004 architecture
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1971
4004 released
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1983
Joins Atari
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1996
National Inventors Hall of Fame
-
2009
National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Notable works
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1969
Intel 4004 architecture Design
With Stanley Mazor.
Awards and honours
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Kyoto Prize
1997
-
National Medal of Technology and Innovation
2009
Did you know?
-
1
His original idea reduced the calculator design from about a dozen chips to four.
-
2
The LMS algorithm he helped create is used in echo cancellation.
-
3
Intel bought back the rights to the 4004 from Busicom.
Connections
Related people
-
Federico Faggin
Technology · Italian physicist who designed the first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004
4004 chip designer
-
Masatoshi Shima
Technology · Japanese engineer who co-designed the Intel 4004, the first microprocessor
4004 co-designer
-
Robert Noyce
Technology · Co-inventor of the integrated circuit and co-founder of Intel, the “Mayor of Silicon Valley”
Intel co-founder
Also born on 28 October
Frequently asked
Who is Ted Hoff?
Ted Hoff is an American engineer who, as Intel’s twelfth employee, proposed the architecture of the Intel 4004 in 1969 — a single general-purpose processor chip instead of many custom chips. The 4004, released in 1971, was the first commercial microprocessor.
How old is Ted Hoff?
Ted Hoff is 89 years old, born on 28 October 1937 in Rochester, New York, United States.
Where is Ted Hoff from?
Ted Hoff was born in Rochester, New York, United States.
What is Ted Hoff known for?
Ted Hoff is best known for Concept of the Intel 4004 microprocessor; Intel’s 12th employee.
What awards has Ted Hoff received?
Notable honours include Kyoto Prize (1997), National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2009).
References
- Marcian Hoff — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Marcian Hoff — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Marcian Hoff — IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Marcian Hoff (Q462096) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Marcian Hoff”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Ted Hoff.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/ted-hoff
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