Aart J. de Geus is the founder, chairman and CEO of Synopsys

Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. is one of the largest companies in the Electronic Design Automation industry. Synopsys' first and best-known product is Design Compiler, a logic-synthesis tool. Synopsys offers a wide range of other products used in the design of an application-specific integrated circuit...

 Inc. He is a fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...

 and Phil Kaufman Award

Phil Kaufman Award

Phil Kaufman Award is established by the EDA Consortium to recognize individuals for their impact on electronic design by their contributions to electronic design automation...

 award winner. Aart graduated with a masters degree in Electrical Engineering (1978) from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:...

 (Swiss Federal Institute of technology), EPFL, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 followed by a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, USA.

Recognition and awards

Electronic Business

Electronic business

Electronic business, commonly referred to as "eBusiness" or "e-business", or an internet business, may be defined as the application of information and communication technologies in support of all the activities of business...

magazine has chosen Dr. de Geus as one of "The 10 Most Influential Executives". He was honored for pioneering the commercial logic synthesis

Logic synthesis

In electronics, logic synthesis is a process by which an abstract form of desired circuit behavior, typically register transfer level , is turned into a design implementation in terms of logic gates. Common examples of this process include synthesis of HDLs, including VHDL and Verilog...

 market by being named the third recipient ever to receive the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

The IEEE Circuits and Systems Society is a society of the IEEE. It is also known by the acronym IEEE CASS. In the hierarchy of IEEE, the Circuits and Systems Society is one of close to 40 technical societies organized under the IEEE's Technical Activities Board.From the , the field of interest of...

 Industrial Pioneer Award.In 2002, shortly after transacting the largest merger in electronic design automation

Electronic design automation

Electronic design automation is a category of software tools for designing electronic systems such as printed circuit boards and integrated circuits...

 (EDA) history, Dr. de Geus was named CEO of the Year by Electronic Business magazine; and in 2004, Entrepreneur of the Year in IT for Northern California

Northern California

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

 by Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....

. Aart is the recipient of the 2008 Phil Kaufman Award

Phil Kaufman Award

Phil Kaufman Award is established by the EDA Consortium to recognize individuals for their impact on electronic design by their contributions to electronic design automation...

 (considered as the Nobel prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

in EDA) for distinguished contributions to EDA.

Art de Geus received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year© Award in 2004. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year© award is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs, spanning more than 140 cities and 50 countries worldwide.