The newspaper headline read, "TI founder never forgot B.C. roots." The story went on to say that Cecil Green worked as hard at giving away fortunes as he did making it. Who was Cecil Green?
Cecil Green was born in Whitefield, [near Manchester] England on August 6th, 1900. When Cecil was two years old, his family left England for Canada. After arriving in Halifax, the family moved from place to place - Halifax to Montreal to Toronto. Eventually, when Cecil was five years old, the family moved to San Francisco, California and arrived just in time to be caught up in the great earthquake of April 1906. Later, Green related that the earthquake gave him his lifelong interest in seismology. Although he said that rather off-handily, the earthquake was a rather harrowing experience.
He and his mother survived the 'quake despite having their home virtually collapse round their ears. At the time of the earthquake, Cecil Green's father was in Vancouver, B.C. searching for work and so missed the ordeal. Young Cecil and his mother, along with thousands of other residents of San Francisco, lived for a time in tents in Golden State Park following the natural disaster. Cecil related later that they watched the entire city of San Francisco burn. He said that it was a terrible thing and the city was under martial law. Shortly after, Cecil and his mother moved north to Vancouver to join Mr. Green.
The couple arrived in British Columbia without any idea of where Mr. Green was or how they would locate him. Moreover, they were not certain that he was still in Vancouver. Fortune smiled on them, however, because almost as soon as they emerged from the train station and walked along Cordova Street, Cecil and his mother met Mr. Green walking along the street. Fortune had smiled on young Cecil and his mother that day.
The family remained in Vancouver. Following elementary school, Cecil Green attended King Edward High School; upon graduation he enrolled in the University of British Columbia [UBC] in 1918. At that time, UBC was situated in the university's original location in the Mt. Pleasant area of the city. In his third year at UBC, Cecil Green's chemistry professor suggested he transfer to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] near Boston. Cecil graduated from MIT in 1924 proudly carrying a Master of Science degree. Upon graduation, Cecil returned to Vancouver but was unable to find work; because of lack of employment, he moved to the United States. He began work at General Electric in Schenectady, New York. It was there that he met his future wife; they married in 1926.
Toward the latter part of the 1920s, Cecil Green dabbled in several endeavours including an attempt to start up a neon sign company in Vancouver, B.C. and selling car turn signals in Seattle, Washington. Later, in Palo Alto, California, he worked as an assistant to Charles Litton, who went on to form Litton Industries in that city. In the early 1930s, a friend suggested that Cecil Green join Geophysical Service Inc. [GSI] located in Texas. At the time, GSI was using seismic technology in oil exploration, a new thing in those days. Although GSI and Green knew little about the technology, they learned as they went along. This meant that Cecil Green moved around a great deal and over the next ten years he rarely remained in any one place for more than a fortnight or three weeks as the seismic crews moved from location to location.
On December 6, 1941, Cecil Green and three partners purchased GSI from its owners. The entire world knows what happened the next day. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was drawn into World War Two. Green and his partners had to react quickly because of the war; they switched from seismic to war production in order to keep their workforce together and out of the military.
One of GSI's first products was an airborne device for detecting submarines. Previously, a scientist at the company had worked on an airborne magnetometer for oil exploration; it was quickly adapted for military use.
The electronics section of the business expanded after WWII ended. Texas Instruments was launched officially in 1951. The original GSI became a subsidiary. Cecil Green was fifty-one years old.
Three years later, a Texas Instruments scientist designed a transistor made from silicon. That launched the company on a road of success; today, TI does eight billion U.S. dollars in sales annually.
A long-time friend of Cecil Green's said that by the mid-1950s, Cecil was a 'gazillionaire.' Cecil gave away much of his wealth; he and his wife Ida were not blessed with children. The friend said that Green worked as hard at giving away his money as some people do at operating a successful business. It has been estimated that Cecil and Ida donated the equivalent of three hundred million dollars to various causes and institutions around the world. Cecil Howard Green, a man of humble beginnings, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his good work.
One of the beneficiaries of Cecil Green's wealth was the University of British Columbia. In 1967, he purchased an up-scale mansion and donated it to the university. It was named Cecil Green Park House. An additional two million dollars was given UBC by Ida Green. Later, in 1970, Cecil gave seven hundred thousand dollars for the Cecil and Ida Green Visiting Professorship. Additionally, he willed six million dollars to fund Green College, a centre for graduate students.
Friends said that Cecil Green had "enormous affection" for Canada and especially for UBC. He told his friends not to go to Vancouver because "if you get there you may never want to leave."
Cecil Green had his primary residence in Dallas, Texas - the home of Texas Instruments - but he maintained a second residence in La Jolla, California. Although Green travelled widely, he remained on the board of TI until into the 1980s.
Cecil Green died on April 12th, 2003, in La Jolla, California at age 102 years. His wife Ida predeceased him in 1986.
Throughout his long and productive life, Cecil Green never forgot his Vancouver, British Columbia roots. His start as a scientist began in King Edward High School and continued in UBC. Green's Canadian roots launched him on his road to success and Texas Instruments, a household name in much of the world. What youngster has not held one of Texas Instrument's small, compact calculators and solved mathematical problems with ease. Cecil Green would be pleased.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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