View source for Curtis Priem

{{short description|American electrical engineer}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Curtis Priem
| image             = 
| image_size        = 
| birth_name        = Curtis R. Priem
| birth_date        = {{birth based on age as of date|64|2023|11|26}}
| birth_place       = 
| nationality       = 
| field             = Electrical engineering
| work_institutions = [[IBM]]<br>[[Sun Microsystems]]<br>Nvidia
| alma_mater        = [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = Co-founding [[Nvidia]]
| prizes            = 
}}
'''Curtis R. Priem''' (born {{birth based on age as of date|64|2023|11|26|noage=1}}<ref name="forbes-profile">{{Cite magazine |last=Liu |first=Phoebe |date=November 26, 2023 |title=This Nvidia Cofounder Could Have Been Worth $70 Billion. Instead He Lives Off The Grid |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2023/11/26/this-nvidia-cofounder-could-have-been-worth-70-billion-instead-he-lives-off-the-grid |magazine=Forbes |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231127021509/https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2023/11/26/this-nvidia-cofounder-could-have-been-worth-70-billion-instead-he-lives-off-the-grid/?sh=17cf67966aae |archive-date=November 27, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>) is an American electrical engineer. After co-founding the [[Nvidia Corporation]], he left the company and sold all of his shares in Nvidia by 2006.<ref name="forbes-profile" />

== Career ==
He received a [[Bachelor of Science]] in electrical engineering from [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] in 1982.<ref name="PriemRensselaerBio">{{cite web |title=Curtis R. Priem |url=https://ecse.rpi.edu/about/hall-of-fame/curtis-r-priem |publisher=[[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] |access-date=21 November 2024}}</ref> He designed the first graphics processor for the [[Personal computer|PC]], the [[IBM]] [[Professional Graphics Adapter]].

From 1986 to 1993, he was a senior staff engineer at [[Sun Microsystems]], where he developed the GX graphics chip. He co-founded [[Nvidia]] with [[Jen-Hsun Huang]] and [[Chris Malachowsky]] and was its [[chief technical officer]] from 1993 to 2003. He retired from Nvidia in 2003 and sold all of his shares in the company by 2006.<ref name="forbes-profile" /> In November 2023, ''[[Forbes]]'' estimated Priem's net worth to be approximately $30 million; if he had retained his shares in Nvidia, ''Forbes'' estimated that Priem would have been worth $70 billion.<ref name="forbes-profile" />   

In 2000, Priem was named Entrepreneur of the Year.<ref>[http://www.rpi.edu/dept/NewsComm/Magazine/Dec00/notes.html Curtis Priem '82 Named Entrepreneur of the Year] December 2000. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607063300/http://www.rpi.edu/dept/NewsComm/Magazine/Dec00/notes.html |date=June 7, 2011 }}</ref> Since 2003 he has been a trustee of Rensselaer, in 2024 becoming the vice chair of the Board.<ref>[https://president.rpi.edu/leadership/curtis-r-priem-82-vice-chair-board RPI Board of Trustees - Curtis Priem] </ref> In 2004 he announced that he would donate an unrestricted gift of $40 million to the Institute. Rensselaer subsequently created the [[EMPAC|Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center]], named in his honor and usually referred to as "EMPAC" for short.<ref>[http://empac.rpi.edu/news/2004/2004_0911.html 09.11.04 Rensselaer Announces $1 Billion Capital Campaign — the Largest in the University's History] September 2004. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014023935/http://empac.rpi.edu/news/2004/2004_0911.html |date=October 14, 2010 }}</ref>

He is also president of the Priem Family Foundation, which he established with his wife Veronica in September, 1999. The foundation is non-operating (i.e., has no office or staff, and therefore, no overhead) and exists only to give money to other foundations or charities.

==References==
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[[Category:Nvidia people]]
[[Category:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1950s births]]
[[Category:American technology company founders]]
[[Category:American electrical engineers]]
[[Category:American chief technology officers]]
[[Category:American philanthropists]]


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