Kathryn E. Gordon

Kathryn “Kit” Gordon launched her career at a small semiconductor startup called Monolithic Memories before moving on to another successful startup called QuickLogic where she invented an amorphous silicon anti-fuse for the company’s first product: field programmable gate arrays or FPGAs. In 2011, Kit co-founded a successful plant-based skincare company, Botanic Organic. In Santa Clara Valley (also known as Silicon Valley), Kit has been heavily involved in a number of environmental organizations, including Grassroots Ecology; the Town of Los Altos Hills; Green Foothills; and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. She’s served on several committees for the water district: the environment and water resource committee; independent monitoring committee; and the One Water planning committee. After Illinois, she went on to earn a master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering and an MBA from Santa Clara University. Kit has supported and given her time to the department, serving as a judge for our graduate research symposium in 2020 and as the convocation speaker in 2016.