Curtis R. Priem ’82, Vice Chair of the Board
Curtis R. Priem co-founded NVIDIA Corp. a manufacturer of graphics and multimedia integrated circuits, in 1993 and was its chief technical officer from 1993 to 2003. From 1986 to January 1993, Priem was senior staff engineer at Sun Microsystem, where he architected the GX graphics products, including the world's first single chip GUI accelerator.
From 1984 to 1986, Priem was a hardware engineer at GenRad Inc., a supplier of diagnostic equipment for electronic products. From 1982 to 1984, he was a staff engineer for Vermont Microsystems Inc., a personal computer company, where he architected IBM's Professional Graphics Adapter, the PC industry's first graphics processor. Priem is an inventor with approximately 200 U.S. and international patents, all of which relate to graphics and input/output systems. He holds a B.S.E.E. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Priem received the Albert Fox Demers Award in 2005 from the Rensselaer Alumni Association and the 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Severino Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a member of the 1824 Society of Patroons of Rensselaer.