Ed Turney, a co-founder of Advanced Micro Devices, died Wednesday in Cupertino, Calif., of brain cancer. He was 79.
Before his tenure at Sunnyvale, Calif-based AMD, Turney was a sales engineer at Fairchild Semiconductor, a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp.
Turney went on to found AMD along with Jerry Sanders, John Carey, Sven Simonsen, Jack Gifford, Frank Botte, Jim Files and Larry Stenger.
Nicknamed "Fast Eddie," Turney's initial at responsibilities at the fledgling AMD involved buying equipment and overseeing construction of the company's first chip factory.
Turney also created AMD's sales team, serving as its director, and was responsible for developing a network of electronic distributors.
"Ed was a hot-shot salesman who would get the order through the force of his personality and drive," said longtime friend and colleague Sanders. "He was instrumental in our securing the best distribution network in the United States and built those critical relationships at the distributor level that were key to our business."
In 1974, Turney left AMD and worked at various small semiconductor manufacturing and distribution companies. He later became a consultant to firms trying to get started or funded.
"But he never again reached the heights that he had attained at Fairchild and AMD," said former Fairchild and AMD colleague Stephen Zelencik. "He spent the last 30 years of his life looking for the next big one—seven days a week, 24 hours a day."
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