Entrepreneur. He was co-founder with William Hewlett of the Hewlett-Packard Company, an American electric and computer corporation. Born the son of an attorney, he had an interest in science at an early age. By the time he was in high school, the six-foot-five athlete lettered in football, basketball, and track as well as excelling in academic achievements especially science. After graduation, he earned a B.A. degree at Stanford University in 1934, while continuing to be active in sports. He met Hewlett while an undergraduate at Stanford University. He attended the University of Colorado at Boulder briefly before taking a position at General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York. In 1938 he returned to Stanford University earning a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering. He and Hewlett formed Hewlett-Packard on January 1, 1939. Famously, the company humbly began in a garage with $538 and what would eventually become a highly respected company in Silicon Valley, a region in Northern California that provides technology internationally. The actual garage has been placed on the California registry of Historic Places as "The Birthplace of Silicon Valley." The company's first product was an audio oscillator used for testing sound equipment. The company's first famous customer was Walt Disney's Studios, who purchased a number of Hewlett-Packard oscillators in 1940 for use with the animated film, "Fantasia." During World War II, he managed the business, supporting the war effort with advancement of crucial technologies while Hewlett served in the military. Following the end of the war, he received a certificate of commendation for his outstanding service during the war. In 1947 they incorporated Hewlett-Packard as a $1 million enterprise with 111 employees. In 1969 he left the company to serve in United States President Richard Nixon's administration as Deputy Secretary of Defense but resigned in 1971, returning to the company. He served as chairman of the board for the company from 1964 to 1968 and from 1972 to 1993. Some of the company's major achievements were in 1969, the first desk top computer; in 1972, a handheld calculator; and in 1984, the laser-jet printer. He married and had three daughters and a son. In 1964 he and his wife established the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The couple has donated over $100 million to Stanford University, first for the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, which opened in 1991 and for the David Packard Electrical Engineering Building in 1994. They also donated millions of dollars to create the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. His children are active in managing his charitable endeavors. In 2005 he wrote his professional autobiography, "The HP Way." He received a host of accolades including the President Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Technology in 1988. At age 83, he died from the complications of pneumonia. At the time of his death, his part of the company was worth over $1 billion.