Mark Templeton Inducted into Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame by the ESD Alliance and IEEE CEDA

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Mark Templeton, the former managing director of investment firm Scientific Ventures, and a Lanza techVentures investment partner and board member, was inducted posthumously into the Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame.

The honor, co-sponsored by the Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance of SEMI and the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA), recognizes Templeton’s significant and innovative contributions to the electronic system design industry. The Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame was founded in 2021 to honor deceased members of the semiconductor design industry, who are ineligible to receive the Phil Kaufman Award, a policy set by the IEEE.

At the time of his death in 2016, Templeton was a prominent and highly respected Silicon Valley venture capitalist who leveraged his engineering background to foster scientific advancement.

“Mark Templeton’s legacy of business innovation and creativity endures after his untimely death at age 57,” said Bob Smith, executive director of the ESD Alliance. “As a director and board member of numerous technology companies, he was instrumental in driving semiconductor intellectual property (IP) market growth by spearheading technical innovations and developing new business models.”

“In creating a new market segment, now widely known as silicon intellectual property, Mark Templeton left an indelible mark on the electronic system design industry,” said Gi-Joon Nam, president of CEDA and principal research scientist at IBM Research.

Templeton co-founded Artisan Components Physical IP in 1991, where he served as president and CEO. Under his leadership, Artisan Components quickly set the industry standard for implementing complex System on Chip (SoC) designs.

“Often overlooked is Mark’s genius,” said Lucio Lanza, managing director of Lanza techVentures, who nominated Mr. Templeton for recognition. “He created a new and innovative business model for silicon IP, moving away from upfront fees to a success-based approach.”

Artisan was the first company to offer free custom IP blocks for semiconductor design and was compensated once the design was completed, a model that has promoted design community growth ever since. Tens of thousands of chip designs using custom IP blocks have since been implemented, spanning 15 different process technologies and 18 foundries. Artisan went public in 1997 and was acquired by Arm in 2004. From 2004 to 2006, Templeton was president and Chief Strategy Office of Arm North America and also served on the Arm Holdings board of directors.

In addition, Templeton served as chairman of the board of Ablesky and president and CEO of Fabbrix from 2006 until it was acquired by PDF Solutions in 2007. 

Templeton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Boston University.