Linear Technology Staff Scientist Jim Williams Remembered

His contributions were many-fold. He was a legendary analog circuit designer, problem solver, writer and mentor to many engineers over the years.

Hailing from Detroit in the shadow of a booming postwar US automotive market, Jim developed an early curiosity and interest in all things electronic. He would talk about working at a TV repair shop during his early years, so he could poke around inside to find out how they worked. His passion for electronics took him to Boston, where his intellect and drive helped him find a technician’s job working on the Apollo program. Although self-taught in electronics, Jim taught and did research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1968 to 1979, concentrating exclusively on analog circuit design. During this time, he began his legendary writing career—finding clear, elegant ways to describe complex and seemingly indescribable design challenges and solutions.
Before joining Linear Technology in 1982, Jim worked in National Semiconductor’s Linear Integrated Circuits Group for three years. In nearly 30 years with Linear, Jim had the unique role of staff scientist, with interests spanning product definition, development and support. He was consumed with developing analog circuits, helping set up instruments in the company’s labs, mentoring junior engineers in-house and customers outside, even answering his own phone. Jim maintained a lab at his home and worked there, in a lab at least as well outfitted as the one at work.

In many ways, Jim’s major contribution was in making complex analog circuits understandable to the engineering community. He had the rare ability to develop a complicated circuit for one-time use, and then provide enough background for general use, writing it up so that engineers could easily understand. Over the years, Jim was a highly prolific and accomplished writer, authoring over 350 publications related to analog circuit design, including dozens of Linear Technology application notes and articles for EDN magazine. He edited and contributed his writings to two books on analog design in the 1990s and his forthcoming book, Analog Circuit Design: A Tutorial Guide to Applications and Solutions, edited with Linear Technology’s Bob Dobkin will be published this summer by Elsevier/Newnes Publishing.
Jim Williams was named Innovator of The Year by EDN magazine in 1992 and elected to Electronic Design Hall of Fame in 2002. His outside interests spanned sports cars, collecting antique scientific instruments, art, and restoring (and using) old Tektronix oscilloscopes.
“Next to his wife Siu, Jim lived electronics. Electronics was his art, his hobby and his humor,” stated Bob Dobkin, Linear Technology Vice President, Engineering and Chief Technical Officer. “Jim’s mantra of building your own prototypes and testing them taught tens of thousands of engineers the right way to get a working design off a sheet of paper and into production.”
Bob Swanson, Linear Technology Executive Chairman, stated, “The entire world of analog electronics has lost one of its greatest champions and teachers.”
Lothar Maier, Linear Technology CEO, stated, “Jim is a part of the fabric of Linear Technology, and his presence, contributions and inspiration will be greatly missed. Jim, like the circuits he designed, is timeless and will be forever remembered. His unique gift as an engineer allowed him to invent, teach and communicate complex analog ideas, being an inspiring force to countless engineers.”
Jim is survived by his wife Siu and son Michael. His family requests that donations in Jim’s memory be made to The Parkinson's Institute, 1170 Morse Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94089.