John Kent

Past Chair

John Kent is a technology executive who retired from full time work in 2021 following a 42 year career in the semiconductor industry.  Most recently, he was Executive Vice President, Technology, of Skywater Technology, Bloomington, MN.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Michigan State University.  John and his family have been and continue to be active supporters of Idaho State University.  Since 2004, John has fostered partnerships with the Idaho State University Department of Electrical Engineering when he came to Pocatello as the Vice President of Technology Development at AMI Semiconductor (now ON Semiconductor).  Kent continued to support the department through collaboration with another former employer, RAMBUS, Inc., of Sunnyvale, CA.

In his former capacity as Vice President of Technology Development for RAMBUS, Inc., Kent fostered graduate student internships, and guest technical lectures at Idaho State University, as well as ongoing support for the Engineering Design Automation software for the Idaho State University Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chip design laboratory.  Kent was a founding donor, along with RAMBUS, to the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) Scholarship fund in 2010.

John currently serves as Chair, Idaho State University Foundation; Member, Michigan State University Engineering Alumni Board as well as Technical Advisory Board Member, Silvaco; an engineering design automation software company based in SIlicon Valley, California.