About Us

The Noyce Foundation was created by the Noyce family in 1990 to honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Robert N. Noyce, inventor of the integrated circuit which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name. Although he was an individual of daunting talents and intellect who was honored by two Presidents as well as his academic and industry peers around the world, Bob Noyce also remained a humble and approachable man who believed fervently in democracy. Inspired by Bob’s example, the Noyce Foundation embraces a set of core values that guide our work:

Great accomplishments are realized when optimism guides and inspires bold learning.
Creativity and risk taking are the bedrock of innovation and essential to forging a healthy democracy.
Determination to reach high levels of achievement is fundamental to attaining excellence.
Social innovation requires commitment to stay the course.
Flexibility and speed allow us to respond to new opportunities and changing situations.

Maintaining these values, the Foundation operates under the following beliefs and principles:

We believe in building community. We seek to establish partnerships whenever we make a grant. The more we trust and know each other, the more we can “push” each other, challenge assumptions, and benefit from each other’s knowledge. We strive to learn from our partners and to share that learning throughout our community.

We believe in focusing on content. Rather than just working with a broad brush to improve practice, we aim our programs and our grants at improving specific knowledge and skills within the content areas of math, science, and literacy. We prefer professional development to be targeted and specific.

We believe in focusing on the system. Working exclusively with teachers without considering the systems in which they are situated is insufficient. We believe that the organizational context is critical and our strategies need to target key aspects and role groups in and around the system in order to see promising change. Whether the context is a school, a district, a non-profit organization, or a region, we aim to impact the environment to advance our mission.

We believe in professional development. We think practice changes through professional development, and we utilize multiple strategies coupled with high-quality curriculum, assessments, and standards to engage adults.

We believe in fostering leadership. Strong leadership is at the heart of a strong organization. We focus on the development of leaders in order to promote their ability to leverage change in the system.

We believe in focusing on results. We not only concentrate on improving results for students, but we also concentrate on improved results for all participants in the system. It is essential for us to know how well we are doing relative to our goals.

Because of Bob’s interest and background in science, the Foundation’s original purpose was to increase the numbers of students at every stage along the K-12 education pipeline who have the fundamental skills, knowledge, and interest to pursue further study leading to a career in science or technology. Most of our work is focused on improving mathematics and science experiences for students. In mathematics, our focus is on achieving a breakthrough in the percentage of students passing the California algebra proficiency exam and succeeding in the high school college preparatory math sequence. In science, the Foundation’s goal is to significantly increase the number of students interested in pursuing science, engineering, and technology careers as well as to expand students' general knowledge of and fun with science through out-of-school science programs.

For more information about Robert Noyce, see The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley, a biography by Leslie Berlin published in 2005.


Home Grantmaking News Noyce Initiatives Annual Reports Publications About Us Program Areas Staff & Trustees Contact Search	ABOUT US The Noyce Foundation was created by the Noyce family in 1990 to honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Robert N. Noyce, inventor of the integrated circuit which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name. Although he was an individual of daunting talents and intellect who was honored by two Presidents as well as his academic and industry peers around the world, Bob Noyce also remained a humble and approachable man who believed fervently in democracy. Inspired by Bob’s example, the Noyce Foundation embraces a set of core values that guide our work: Great accomplishments are realized when optimism guides and inspires bold learning. Creativity and risk taking are the bedrock of innovation and essential to forging a healthy democracy. Determination to reach high levels of achievement is fundamental to attaining excellence. Social innovation requires commitment to stay the course. Flexibility and speed allow us to respond to new opportunities and changing situations. Maintaining these values, the Foundation operates under the following beliefs and principles: We believe in building community. We seek to establish partnerships whenever we make a grant. The more we trust and know each other, the more we can “push” each other, challenge assumptions, and benefit from each other’s knowledge. We strive to learn from our partners and to share that learning throughout our community. We believe in focusing on content. Rather than just working with a broad brush to improve practice, we aim our programs and our grants at improving specific knowledge and skills within the content areas of math, science, and literacy. We prefer professional development to be targeted and specific. We believe in focusing on the system. Working exclusively with teachers without considering the systems in which they are situated is insufficient. We believe that the organizational context is critical and our strategies need to target key aspects and role groups in and around the system in order to see promising change. Whether the context is a school, a district, a non-profit organization, or a region, we aim to impact the environment to advance our mission. We believe in professional development. We think practice changes through professional development, and we utilize multiple strategies coupled with high-quality curriculum, assessments, and standards to engage adults. We believe in fostering leadership. Strong leadership is at the heart of a strong organization. We focus on the development of leaders in order to promote their ability to leverage change in the system. We believe in focusing on results. We not only concentrate on improving results for students, but we also concentrate on improved results for all participants in the system. It is essential for us to know how well we are doing relative to our goals. Because of Bob’s interest and background in science, the Foundation’s original purpose was to increase the numbers of students at every stage along the K-12 education pipeline who have the fundamental skills, knowledge, and interest to pursue further study leading to a career in science or technology. Most of our work is focused on improving mathematics and science experiences for students. In mathematics, our focus is on achieving a breakthrough in the percentage of students passing the California algebra proficiency exam and succeeding in the high school college preparatory math sequence. In science, the Foundation’s goal is to significantly increase the number of students interested in pursuing science, engineering, and technology careers as well as to expand students' general knowledge of and fun with science through out-of-school science programs. For more information about Robert Noyce, see The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley, a biography by Leslie Berlin published in 2005.
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