Robert Tsao is the founder of United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC).
Robert Tsao was born in China in 1947, but his parents moved to Taiwan in 1948 and he grew up and built his career there. Mr. Tsao earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University (NTU) and a Master’s degree in Management Science from National Chiao Tung University in 1972. He graduated from NTU as the Taiwanese government was laying the foundations of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Mr. Tsao was recruited to be the Vice Chairman of Electronics Research & Service Organization (ERSO) where he played a very key role from 1979 to 1981. He was instrumental in organizing the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) where he oversaw the development of Taiwan’s first integrated circuit manufacturing line which became the basis for UMC, a semiconductor contract manufacturer that produced chips based upon its customers’ designs.
