Christopher Sutardja (B.S.’10, Ph.D.’17 EECS), Sehat Sutardja (M.S.’85, Ph.D.’88 EECS), Weili Dai (B.A.’84 CS), Nicholas Sutardja (B.A.’12 Applied Mathematics; B.S.’12, Ph.D.’19 EECS), from left, during CITRIS and Sutardja Dai Hall grand opening at UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Dai Hall in Berkeley, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. (Photo by Aaron Walburg)Sehat Sutardja, semiconductor pioneer and Marvell co-founder, has died
Sehat Sutardja, a pioneer of the modern semiconductor industry, has died at the age of 63. The co-founder of Marvell Technology, he helped foster a culture of innovation at Berkeley Engineering through his generous support.
Born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sutardja demonstrated a talent for engineering early in life. He later earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University, followed by a master’s (1985) and Ph.D. (1988) in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley. In 1995, Sutardja, along with his wife, Weili Dai (B.A.’84 CS), and his brother, Pantas Sutardja (B.S.’83, M.S.’85, Ph.D.’88 EECS), founded Marvell, which would grow to become one of the world’s largest chipmakers.
For nearly two decades, Sutardja was a strong supporter of Berkeley Engineering. Since 2006, he served on the Engineering Advisory Board, where he worked with others to advance the college’s academic and research excellence. In addition, he made significant gifts to Berkeley Engineering that have had a deep and lasting impact.
The construction of Sutardja Dai Hall, a 141,000-square-foot building that today houses CITRIS, along with research labs, faculty offices, a nanofabrication lab, an auditorium, conference rooms and state-of-the-art classrooms, was made possible thanks to the generous support of Sutardja, Pantas Sutardja and Dai. Sutardja also contributed to the new Engineering Center, expected to open in spring 2025.