Chih-Tang Sah, former Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and of Physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, passed away on July 5, 2025.
Sah worked at the forefront of semiconductor technologies from transistors to solar cells, which continue to transform the world. After a 57-year career as a teacher, researcher and mentor including 27 years at his alma mater, Illinois, Sah’s mentorship and generosity continue to impact the field of electron devices and students around the world.
In 2006, Sah established the Linda Su-Nan Chang Sah Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. The fellowship, named after his late wife, Linda Su-Nan Chang Sah, and in memory of Dorothy Wallace Everitt and William Littell Everitt (former Dean of Engineering at Illinois), provides a yearlong graduate fellowship in electrical and computer engineering or a related field to a female Ph.D. candidate specializing in microtechnology or nanotechnology related to bioengineering, biophysics, or medical electronics.
“With heavy and grateful hearts, we celebrate the lasting impact Chih-Tang made on our community, from his time as a student and through his years as a professor and beyond,” said Rashid Bashir, dean of The Grainger College of Engineering. “During his time as a faculty member, Chih-Tang was at the forefront of impactful innovation. As a donor, he facilitated opportunities for current and future students to solve problems and create a better world for others, effectively carrying on his legacy.”
Sah obtained a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. in Engineering Physics from Illinois in 1953. Then, at Stanford University's Department of Electrical Engineering, he completed his M.S. in 1954 and, two years later, his Ph.D. under Karl Spangenberg, the first Ph.D. student of Dean Everitt.
Sah was hired by Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in 1956, working there for three years on semiconductor physics and transistors. He published a seminal paper in 1957, Carrier Generation and Recombination in P-N Junctions and P-N Junction Characteristics, with Robert Noyce and Nobel laureate William Shockley.
He went on to become head of the physics and technology group at the Fairchild Semiconductor Laboratory, where he assisted Gordon Moore in hiring, building, and directing a 64-person team that developed manufacturing technology for the first generation of silicon integrated circuits. These technologies included oxidation, diffusion, epitaxial growth, and metal conductor thin-film deposition for volume production of silicon bipolar transistors and integrated circuits. Fairchild Semiconductor spawned dozens of companies that established Silicon Valley.
In 1962, Sah joined the U. of I. Engineering faculty as a Professor of Physics and of Electrical Engineering. He guided 40 students to Ph.D.s, and 34 M.S. theses during his time on campus. His Ph.D. trainees included Henry Pao - founder of Supertex, Charles Hsu - founder of eMemory, and Jack Sun - former CTO of TSMC.
The College of Engineering recognized Sah with an Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in 1994. He was inducted into the Grainger Engineering Hall of Fame in 2011.
In 1988, Sah joined the University of Florida as the Pittman Eminent Scholar, a Graduate Research Professor, and Chief Scientist. After retiring from the University of Florida in 2010, he was affiliated with the Physics Department at Xiamen University in China.
Sah was the author of a three-volume textbook, Fundamentals of Solid State Electronics, and he coauthored, with his 50 Ph.D. students and 50 industrial and academic postdoctoral associates, nearly 300 journal articles. He was the founding editor of the International Series on the Advances in Solid State Electronics and Technology (ASSET).
Sah served as a consultant to many American companies and U.S. government agencies, including the Army Research Office, National Science Foundation, Harry Diamond Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Department of Energy.
He was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and the Academia Sinica in Taipei. He was a life fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Recognitions include the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association University of Research Award; IEEE’s Celebrated Member Award, J.J. Ebers Award, Jack Morton Award, and Browder J. Thompson best paper prize for authors under thirty; Institute of Scientific Information's World's 1,000 Most Cited Scientists, 1965-1978; distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chinese Institute of Engineers USA; Chinese-American Committee-100 Pioneer Award; first Achievement Award of the Asian-American Manufacturing Association of San Jose, California; the Asian American Scholar Forum’s Pioneer Medal; and China’s National Honorary Doctorate.