Chenming Hu

Chenming Hu is the TSMC Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, a leading institution in Engineering. He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University in 1968, an M.S. in 1970, and a Ph.D. in 1973 from UC Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department. Hu began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1973 to 1976 before joining UC Berkeley as a Professor in 1976, where he progressed through distinguished roles including Chancellor’s Chair Professor from 1998 to 2001 and TSMC Distinguished Chair Professor from 2001 to 2013. He served as Chief Technology Officer of TSMC from 2001 to 2004, the company that manufactures 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips. Additionally, he was Founding Chairman of Celestry Design Technologies from 1996 to 2002 and has held board positions at SanDisk, Inphi, Ambarella, and ACM Research, as well as chairing nonprofits like the East Bay Chinese School and Friends of Children with Special Needs.

Hu's research specializations encompass semiconductor technology, integrated circuit device scaling, modeling, and reliability physics. He led the invention and development of the FinFET, a revolutionary 3D thin-body transistor patented in 1999 (US6413802B1), which IEEE calls him the Father of and Intel describes as the most radical shift in semiconductor technology in over 50 years, enabling modern computers, smartphones, the internet, and AI chips. Since 1995, he has directed the BSIM project, the royalty-free industry-standard MOSFET compact model integral to designing integrated circuits worth trillions of dollars. He has authored six books, including Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (2010), FinFET Modeling for IC Simulation and Design, and BSIM4 and MOSFET Modeling for IC Simulation; over 1,000 research papers; and holds more than 100 US patents. His profound influence on the field is evidenced by awards such as the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation presented by President Obama in 2016, the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2020, the Taiwan Presidential Science Prize in 2023, the IEEE Nishizawa Medal in 2009, and UC Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997. Hu is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering since 1997, Academia Sinica since 2004, Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2007, and has received honorary doctorates from the University of Hong Kong in 2021 and National Chiao Tung University in 2012.

Professional Email: hu@eecs.berkeley.edu