Varian Associates
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010) |
Varian Associates was one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1948 by Russell H. and Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the klystron, the first tube which could generate electromagnetic waves at microwave frequencies, and other electromagnetic equipment. Varian was acquired by Agilent Technologies in May, 2010[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
On April 20, 1948, the Articles of Incorporation were filed, signed by nine directors: Edward L. Ginzton, William W. Hansen, Richard M. Leonard, Leonard I. Schiff, H. Myrl Stearns, Russell H. Varian, his wife, Dorothy Varian, Sigurd F. Varian and Paul B. Hunter. The company began with six full-time employees: the Varian brothers, Dorothy, Myrl Stearns, Fred Salisbury, and Don Snow. Technical and business assistance came from several members of the faculty at Stanford University, including Edward Ginzton, Marvin Chodorow, William Hansen, and Leonard Schiff. The company's legal counsel was Dick Leonard, a San Francisco attorney, and Paul Hunter, a patent attorney, handled matters related to patents and intellectual property rights.[2]
In 1953 the company established its headquarters in Palo Alto, California, in what has become known as the Stanford Industrial Park and under Thomas D. Sege, the company's chief executive officer (CEO) from 1981 to 1990, sales grew to exceed $1 billion per annum. In 1990 J. Tracy O'Rourke, a 1956 graduate of Auburn University, Alabama replaced Sege as CEO and was also made chairman of the board. On April 2, 1999, the company spun off its Gloucester, Massachusetts ion-implantation equipment business into Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. (VSEA) and its Palo Alto based scientific instrument business into Varian, Inc. (VARI). The medical equipment business which included the manufacture of x-ray tubes in Salt Lake City, Utah renamed itself Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (VAR) and remained headquartered in Palo Alto. After the breakup O'Rourke served as VSEA's chairman.
[edit] See also
- Continental Electronics, a subsidiary from 1985 to 1990
- Communications & Power Industries, a 1995 spin-off, which includes the Varian brothers' original klystron business
- Intevac, a 1991 spin off
- Varian Data Machines, a former division of Varian Associates that sold minicomputers
- Varian, Inc., a scientific instrument company spun off from Varian Associates in 1999.
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Varian, Dorothy (1983). The Inventor and the Pilot: Russell and Sigurd Varian Pacific Book Pub; ISBN: 978-0870152375
[edit] External links
- Stanford University Libraries. Patricia White. ed. "Guide to the Papers of Russell and Sigurd Varian, 1836-1988" (PDF). oac.cdlib.org (Online Archive of California). SC 345. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/data/13030/3j/tf3h4nb03j/files/tf3h4nb03j.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
- Early history of Varian Associates hosted by Communications & Power Industries, which bought Varian's electron device business in 1995
- About Varian Inc. - An Early History
- J. Tracy O'Rourke joins Varian Associates
- Guide to the Varian Associates Records at The Bancroft Library
 |
This United States corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
