Dave House (Beta, ‘65) has been inducted into the Hall of Fame for service to his profession. Brother House played a pivotal role in the development of microprocessors and the marketing of computer components, with a career spanning five decades. He began his career in engineering with Raytheon, designing data acquisition and computer communications systems, following his graduation from Michigan Technological University. While working at Raytheon he continued his education at Northeastern University, obtaining a master’s in electrical engineering.
In his early career he worked on the design and development of minicomputers for Honeywell and Microdata. This led to his 22-year career working for Intel from 1974-1996, rising from General Manager of Microcomputer Components Division to President of Server Division. While at Intel, Brother House helped to develop the 8086, 286, 386, 486, and Pentium processors.
Brother House says he is most proud of seeing the potential of the microprocessor. “It looked like so many companies were ahead of us. I was on the architecture team after Honeywell bought General Electric. I won the Harold W Schwett award at Honeywell for the designs I did. When I went to Intel they couldn’t make the 1103 system work, and I did it, then I showed people how.”
House prioritized shifting their corporate culture from purely engineering to the incorporation of marketing, hence the “Intel Inside” slogan campaign team that he managed. House was credited for growing the microprocessor division of Intel from $40 million to $4 billion annually. He helped launch the company’s Server Products Division which established a foothold in the service business market. After leaving Intel, he continued leading as CEO of Bay Networks following the merger of SynOptics Communications and Wellfleet Communications. Having effectively reshaped the organization and rebuilt the product line, he negotiated and led Bay Networks through its merger with Nortel and became President of Nortel Networks after the completion of the merger. He worked as CEO for Allegro Networks for a short period before concluding his career as Chairman of Brocade Communications Systems.
House is also credited for his contribution to Moore’s Law. This theory states that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. Gordon Moore, the creator of this theory, acknowledged that Brother House observed that due to Moore’s law, microprocessor performance must be doubled every 18 months. This is known as House’s Corollary to Moore’s Law.
As an alumnus, Brother House contributed financially to the current Beta Chapter house near the campus of Michigan Technological University. In 1998, Brother House was inducted into Michigan Technological University’s Department of Electrical Engineering Academy, receiving an Honorary PhD in Engineering. The Dean of Michigan Tech’s College of Computing has the title of being the ‘Dave House Deanship’ following his $5 Million endowment. He has also donated an additional $5 million to other professorships and campus services.
The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA highlights Brother House on their website. According to his bio, “David House is the proprietor of House Family Vineyards in Saratoga, California, and much of his time is spent in non-profit organizations. He is vice chair of the Board at the Computer History Museum, CEO and chairman of the House Family Foundation, a member of the Board of Trustees at Northeastern University, advisor to the president of Michigan Tech, and a member of the board of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, which he chaired from 2018 through 2023. House is an avid heli-skier and heli-snowboarder, car racer and boat captain. House has a BS in electrical engineering from Michigan Technological University and an MS in electrical engineering from Northeastern University.”
(Source: https://computerhistory.org/profile/david-house/)
