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Herman Fialkov Papers

Notifications

Held at: Science History Institute Archives [Contact Us]315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Science History Institute Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
021
Repository:
Science History Institute Archives
Extent:
2.0 linear feet ((1 record box, 1 hollinger box, and 1 artifact box))
Language Note:
All collection materials are in English.
Preferred Citation:
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Herman Fialkov Papers, 1958-2010, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Date:
1958-2010 (inclusive) and (bulk 1968-1999) (bulk)
Creator:
Fialkov, Herman, 1922-2012 and Standard Microsystems Corporation
Form:
Archival materials
Abstract:
Business records and personal papers of American electronics entrepreneur and venture capitalist Herman Fialkov.

Herman Fialkov was a prominent American electronics entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Born in Brooklyn, New York on March 23, 1922, Fialkov became interested in engineering and technology at a young age. He briefly studied engineering at City College of New York, but left college to take a job at Emerson Radio Corporation (1941-1942), where he served as an assistant mechanical engineer.

Fialkov's career in the electronics industry was interrupted by military service in the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II (1942-1946). He saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded a Bronze Star and two Oak Leaf Clusters. After the war, Fialkov returned to Emerson Radio Corporation for a time (1946-1947), then subsequently held positions at Mutual Broadcasting System (1947-1949) and Radio Receptor Corporation (1949-1954). He also attended night school at New York University during this time period, earning a bachelor's degree in Administrative Engineering in 1951.

Seeing a market for transistors, Fialkov went into business for himself in 1954 by founding General Transistor Corporation, an electronics firm based in Jamaica, New York. The new firm's first major customer was UNIVAC, to whom it supplied transistors for use in UNIVAC's File-Computer Systems. Under Fialkov's leadership, General Transistor became a recognized pioneer in transistor technology. The firm also grew quickly and became a publically traded concern in 1956.

General Transistor merged with General Instrument Corporation in 1960. Fialkov stayed on at General Instrument for a number of years, serving as the Group Vice President (1960-1967) and Senior Vice President of Development (1967-1968). At Fialkov's instigation, General Instrument started manufacturing integrated circuits soon after its merger with General Transistor. He was also the founder of General Instrument's Microelectronics Division, which was later spun off as Microchip Technology, Incorporated. Fialkov was also responsible for convincing General Instrument to venture into cable television by purchasing Jerrold Electronics in 1967, which later evolved into Comcast Corporation.

Fialkov became interested in venture capital while still working at General Instrument. In 1968, he left General Instrument to go into business as a venture capitalist specializing in technology firms, and went on to enjoy a long and distinguished career in this field. Fialkov co-founded three venture capital firms: Geiger and Fialkov Fund (1968-1977), Aleph-Null Fund (1978-1987), and Poly Ventures (1987-1997). He also served as a partner at Newlight Associates (1997-2004). Over the course of his career as a venture capitalist, Fialkov helped finance the startup and early development of a number of successful technology firms, including, but not limited to, Intel Corporation, Teledyne Technologies, Incorporated, and Standard Microsystems Corporation.

As a venture capitalist, Fialkov played a particularly active role in the founding and early development of Standard Microsystems Corporation. Based in Hauppauge, New York, Standard Microsystems was co-founded in 1971 by Fialkov and electronics engineer Paul Richman. It was created from the remains of Solid State Data, Incorporated, which was a defunct electronics firm that Fialkov had previously invested in. With Fialkov providing the financial backing, Richman invented the COPLAMOS process. Patented in 1973, COPLAMOS made possible the fabrication of high speed and high density n-channel MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) structures for use in integrated circuits.

Armed with this new technology, Standard Microsystems focused on the manufacture of MOS/LSI (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor/Large-Scale-Integrated) microchips and licensed the COPLAMOS process to other companies. This strategy proved successful and by the 1980s, the firm had grown into a leading electronics concern. Fialkov remained involved with Standard Microsystems into the 1990s, serving at various times as President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, and as a member of the firm's Board of Directors.

Fialkov was an active member of a number of professional organizations, including the Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers and the Electronic Industries Association. He was also a noted philanthropist, serving as a trustee of several non-profit organizations, including Adelphi University, Polytechnic University (now New York University's Tandon School of Engineering), and North Shore University Hospital.

Herman Fialkov passed away on February 21, 2012.

Sources

Herman Fialkov Papers, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Herman Fialkov Papers contain the business records and personal papers of Herman Fialkov. The files in Boxes 1 and 2 are arranged alphabetically by subject. Box 3 contains one trophy pen holder. The contents of this collection mainly document the history of Standard Microsystems Corporation and Fialkov's activities with the firm. To a significantly lesser extent, Fialkov's life and his activities with General Transistor Corporation and General Instrument Corporation are also documented here.

Publications printed by Standard Microsystems Corporation consisting of annual reports, notices of shareholder meetings, quarterly reports, and prospectuses, make up a majority of the materials in this collection. A noticeable amount of financial documents, legal documents, and correspondence are also present here. Small amounts of photocopied articles, memoranda, and papers are also found in this collection. Photocopied government documents, photocopied photographs, photocopied notes, web page printouts, speeches, a business plan, and a trophy pen holder are preserved in this collection as well.

Ownership of the Herman Fialkov Papers was transferred by Herman Fialkov to David Brock. The Herman Fialkov Papers were donated to the Science History Institute (formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation) by David Brock in August 2015.

The Herman Fialkov Papers were processed by Kenton G. Jaehnig in February 2018.

There are no other known archival collections created by Herman Fialkov preserved at the date of processing.

Organization
Subject
Place

Publisher
Science History Institute Archives
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid created and encoded into EAD by Kenton G. Jaehnig.
Finding Aid Date
2018
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes and the collection is open to the public.

Use Restrictions

The Science History Institute holds copyright to the Herman Fialkov Papers. The researcher assumes full responsibility for all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Collection Inventory

Herman Fialkov – Articles About (Photocopies), 1982-1996, undated.
Box 1 Folder 1
Herman Fialkov – Articles By (Photocopies), 1959, circa 1990, undated.
Box 1 Folder 2
Herman Fialkov – Awards Received (Photocopies), 1969-2006, undated.
Box 1 Folder 3
Herman Fialkov – Biographical Information, 2010, undated.
Box 1 Folder 4
Herman Fialkov – Directorships (Mostly resignations) (Photocopies), 1968-2001.
Box 1 Folder 5
Herman Fialkov – Military Service, 2006, undated.
Box 1 Folder 6
General Transistor Corporation – Prospectus – Common Stock, 1960 June 15.
Box 1 Folder 7
General Transistor Corporation – Public Stock Offering – 100,000 Shares of Common Stock, 1958.
Box 1 Folder 8
General Transistor Corporation/General Instrument Corporation – Historical Information – Miscellaneous, 2009, undated.
Box 1 Folder 9
Standard Resources Corporation – Acquisitions of All Issued and Outstanding Stock of Nanosystems, Incorporated, 1971-1972.
Box 1 Folder 10
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1973.
Box 1 Folder 11
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1976.
Box 1 Folder 12
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1977.
Box 1 Folder 13
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1978.
Box 1 Folder 14
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1979.
Box 1 Folder 15
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1980.
Box 1 Folder 16
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1981.
Box 1 Folder 17
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1982.
Box 1 Folder 18
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 19
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1984.
Box 1 Folder 20
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1985.
Box 1 Folder 21
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1986.
Box 1 Folder 22
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1987.
Box 1 Folder 23
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1988.
Box 1 Folder 24
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1991.
Box 1 Folder 25
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1992.
Box 1 Folder 26
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1993.
Box 1 Folder 27
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1994.
Box 1 Folder 28
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1995.
Box 1 Folder 29
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1996.
Box 1 Folder 30
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1997.
Box 1 Folder 31
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1998.
Box 1 Folder 32
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Annual Report, 1999.
Box 1 Folder 33
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Common Stock Advisory, 1993.
Box 1 Folder 34
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Employment Agreements, 1971.
Box 1 Folder 35
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Historical Information – Miscellaneous, 1971-1996, undated.
Box 1 Folder 36
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Issuance, Purchase, and Sale of 187,000 Shares of Common Stock – Closing Documents, 1973.
Box 1 Folder 37
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Memoranda by Herman Fialkov, 1971-1988, undated.
Box 1 Folder 38
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1991.
Box 1 Folder 39
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1992.
Box 1 Folder 40
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1993.
Box 1 Folder 41
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1994.
Box 1 Folder 42
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1996.
Box 1 Folder 43
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1997.
Box 1 Folder 44
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1998.
Box 1 Folder 45
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 1999.
Box 1 Folder 46
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Prospectus – Common Stock, 1972 August 2.
Box 1 Folder 47
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Prospectus – Common Stock, 1980 November 6.
Box 1 Folder 48
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Prospectus – Common Stock, 1983 April 26.
Box 1 Folder 49
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Prospectus – Convertible Subordinated Debentures, 1974 January 24.
Box 1 Folder 50
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Public Stock Offering – 1,400,000 Shares of Common Stock, 1983 April 26.
Box 2 Folder 1
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Purchase Agreement – 500,000 Shares of Convertible Preferred Stock, Series A, 1971.
Box 2 Folder 2
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Purchase – Common Stock for Paul Richman, 1971.
Box 2 Folder 3
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Quarterly Report, 1991.
Box 2 Folder 4
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Quarterly Report, 1992.
Box 2 Folder 5
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K, 1997.
Box 2 Folder 6
Standard Microsystems Corporation – Speeches by Herman Fialkov, 1980-1984.
Box 2 Folder 7
Trophy Pen Holder – Barron's – "Burning Up the Circuits, Microelectronics Is Enjoying Sizzling Demand All Along the Line" (Article with quotation by Herman Fialkov), 1965.
Box 3 Object 1

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