UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Richard Gottscho has been honored by the Penn State Alumni Association with the 2024 Alumni Fellow Award, the most prestigious award given by the Alumni Association. A ceremony to honor this year’s awardees will be held on Sept. 18 at the State Theatre in downtown State College. Those interested in tuning in virtually may register here.
Gottscho is executive vice president and strategic adviser to the CEO – Innovation Ecosystem at Lam Research, where he develops strategies and leads collaborations to accelerate innovation in the semiconductor industry. Gottscho, who graduated from Penn State with a degree in chemistry in 1974 and earned his doctorate in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, brings 40 years of technology leadership to his role. Thanks in part to Gottscho’s leadership, Lam transformed itself from a company that was near bankruptcy in June 1998 to a value-driven, Fortune 500 company today. His teams contributed to the company’s success by regularly introducing new capabilities and products, gaining market share, and increasing profitability.
From 2017 to 2023, Gottscho was executive vice president and chief technology officer at Lam, where he led initiatives to transform lithography and process engineering. From 2010 to 2017, he served as executive vice president of Lam’s Global Products Group, overseeing the company’s Deposition, Etch and Clean businesses during a period of unprecedented company growth. Before joining Lam, Gottscho was a member of Bell Laboratories, where he oversaw research in plasma processing, materials, advanced packaging and flat-panel displays.
Gottscho is a fellow of the American Physical and American Vacuum Societies and has served on numerous committees for conferences in plasma technology. In recognition of Gottscho’s technical achievements, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering inducted him into its ranks in 2016 “for solutions to plasma etch technology and productivity challenges in scaling semiconductor devices from the micro- to nanometer levels.”
Gottscho received an Outstanding Science Alumni Award from the Penn State Eberly College of Science in 2010. He also was recently announced as a member of Penn State’s Campaign Leadership Council, a group of alumni volunteers who have demonstrated their depth of generosity and volunteer spirit in giving back to the University.
Gottscho also has been honored with the American Vacuum Society (AVS) Peter Mark Memorial Award, the AVS Plasma Science and Technology Division Prize, the Dry Process Symposium Nishizawa Award, Gaseous Electronics Conference Foundation Talk Lecturer, Tegal Thinker Award, and was named a Very Large Scale Integration Semiconductor All-Star.
About the Alumni Fellow Award
The Alumni Fellow program is administered by the Penn State Alumni Association in cooperation with the University’s academic colleges, campuses and the Office of the President.
Alumni are nominated by a college or campus as leaders in their professional fields and accept an invitation from the president of the University to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty and administrators.
Visit the Alumni Association’s website for more information on this year's honorees and the award.