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{{about|the electrical engineer|the politician|Don Pederson}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Donald O. Pederson
| image             = Donald O. Pederson.jpg
| birth_date        = September 30, 1925
| birth_place       = [[Hallock, Minnesota]], United States
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2004|12|25|1925|9|30}}
| death_place       = [[Concord, CA]], United States
| field             = [[Electronic Engineering|Electronic Engineer]]
| work_institution  = [[University of California Berkeley]], [[New Jersey Institute of Technology]]
| alma_mater        = [[North Dakota Agricultural College]] (now [[North Dakota State University]]), [[Stanford University]]
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Joseph M. Pettit]]
| doctoral_students = [[A. Richard Newton]]
| known_for         = [[Circuit design]], [[Computer-aided design|CAD]], [[SPICE]]
| awards            = [[IEEE Medal of Honor]] {{small|(1998)}}
}}

'''Donald Oscar Pederson''' (September 30, 1925 – December 25, 2004) was an American professor of [[electrical engineering]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], and one of the designers of [[SPICE]], a simulator for [[integrated circuit]]s that has been universally used as a teaching tool and in the everyday work of circuits engineers. The [[IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits]] is named in his honor.

==Early life==
Pederson was born in [[Hallock, Minnesota]] to Oscar Jorgan and Beda Emilia Pederson. He attended [[Fergus Falls Public Schools]] in [[Fergus Falls, Minnesota]] during which time he built his first [[crystal radio]] by using junkyard finds and spare parts which were given by his uncle and cousin. During those years he also saved money, and eventually bought his first [[soldering iron]] and a [[vacuum tube]]. Don's passion for electronics began in high school during physics class in [[Fargo, North Dakota]] where his parents had moved. He graduated high school at age 17 and entered [[Iowa State College]] in the autumn of 1943, but then left for the military during [[World War II]]. He served as a private in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] in Austria, Germany, France and the [[Philippines]] from 1943 to 1946.<ref name=nas>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/pederson-donald.pdf|author1=David A. Hodges|author-link=David A. Hodges|author2=A. Richard Newton|author2-link=A. Richard Newton|title=Donald Oscar Pederson 1925-2004|publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]]|year=2006}}</ref>

Upon his return from military service, he continued his undergraduate education at [[North Dakota Agricultural College]] (now [[North Dakota State University]]) and earned a bachelor's degree in [[electrical engineering]] in 1948. He then attended [[Stanford University]] for graduate school, where he received a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1949 and a Ph.D. in 1951.<ref name=nas/>

Pederson remained at Stanford as a researcher in the university's electronics research lab. From 1953 to 1955, he worked at [[Bell Labs|Bell Telephone Laboratories]], in [[Murray Hill, New Jersey]], and lectured at Newark College of Engineering (now [[New Jersey Institute of Technology]]). In 1955, Pederson joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences of the [[University of California, Berkeley]] as an assistant professor of electrical engineering. In the early 1970s he began work on [[SPICE]], with his colleagues from the Electronic Research Lab.<ref name=nas/> He retired in 1991, but continued to teach part-time.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|author=Hoffman, Jascha|title=Donald Pederson, 79, Chip Scientist|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 13, 2019|date=January 10, 2005|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/10/obituaries/10pedersonobit.html}}</ref>

Pederson died on December 25, 2004, in [[Concord, California]], of complications from [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Donald Oscar Pederson – semiconductor chip pioneer|author=Schevitz, Tanya|date=January 7, 2005|access-date=January 13, 2019|work=San Francisco Chronicle|url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Donald-Oscar-Pederson-semiconductor-chip-2706882.php}}</ref>

==Awards==
*1969: [[IEEE Education Medal]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ethw.org/IEEE_James_H._Mulligan,_Jr._Education_Medal|title=IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal Recipients|publisher=IEEE|access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref>
*1984: [[IEEE Centennial Medal]]<ref name=eecs>{{cite web|url=https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Awards/ieee.html|title=IEEE Awards|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref>
*1995: [[Phil Kaufman Award]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~newton/Presentations/Kaufman/DOPPresent.html|title=Presentation of the 1995 Phil Kaufman Award to Professor Donald O. Pederson|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref>
*1996: Computer & Communication Promotion Prize<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/1996/1105/awards.html|title=Awards and Honors|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|date=November 5, 1996|access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref>
*1998: [[IEEE Medal of Honor]] for "creation of the SPICE Program, universally used for the computer aided design of circuits"<ref name=eecs/>

Pederson was a member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]] and the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]]. He was also a Fellow of the [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]], the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=nas/>

==Other recognitions==
In 1987 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) named one of its major awards in his honor, the [[IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits]]. It is a [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers#Technical field awards|Technical Field Award]] given by the [[board of directors]] level of the IEEE. It had previously been simply called the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ieee.org/about/awards/tfas/pederson.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407001528/http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/tfas/pederson.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 7, 2010|title=IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits|publisher=[[IEEE]]|access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Don was married to Claire N. Pederson and together they had three daughters (Emily Sanders, Margaret Stanfield, and Katharine Rookard) and a son (John). They also had four grandchildren

After they divorced he married Karen Pederson.<ref name=nyt/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite magazine|author=Perry, Tekla S.|title=Donald O. Pederson [electronic engineering biography]|magazine=[[IEEE Spectrum]]|volume=35|issue=6|date=June 1998}}
*{{cite web|author=L.W. Nagel|author2=D. O. Pederson|name-list-style=amp|title=SPICE (Simulation Program With Integrated Circuit Emphasis)|type=Memorandum No. ERL-M382|publisher=Electronics Research Laboratory, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley|date=April 12, 1973|url=http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1973/ERL-382.pdf}}

==External links==
*[http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/01/05_donpederson.shtml News of Professor Pederson's death in the UC Berkeley News]
*"[http://www.eedesign.com/article/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=57300421 Father of SPICE language, Donald Pederson, dies at 79]" – obituary in the ''[[EE Times]]''
*[http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Donald_O._Pederson IEEE History Center biography]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120204190147/http://www.designers-guide.org/Perspective/life-of-spice.pdf The Life of SPICE]
{{IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal}}
{{IEEE Medal of Honor}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pederson, Donald}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Hallock, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in California]]
[[Category:IEEE Medal of Honor recipients]]
[[Category:Iowa State University alumni]]
[[Category:North Dakota State University alumni]]
[[Category:Stanford University School of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the IEEE]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty]]
[[Category:IEEE Centennial Medal laureates]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Scientists at Bell Labs]]
[[Category:20th-century American engineers]]