Thampy Thomas

Dr. A Thampy Thomas(born 11 April 1946 Cochin,Kerala, India.)is an electric engineer mainly known for his contributions to microprocessor pipeline architecture, specifically as the founder of NexGen microsystems.

In 1979, Thomas co-founded Elxsi, which is believed to be the first startup founded by an Indian national in Silicon Valley. Thomas holds Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.

Thomas served as the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Elxis from 1979 to 1985. Elxsi was the first computer company to use more than one processor.Elxsi investors included the Tata Group and Arthur Rock.

After Elxsi, Thomas founded NexGen Microsystems.Nexgen was best known for its unique implementation of the x86 architecture in its processors. Their processors would translate code designed to run on the traditionally CISC-based x86 architecture to run on the chip's internal RISC architecture. Much of the underlying theory was developed during Thomas' doctorate work, under the supervision of his advisor, Dr. Ed Davidson.

Thomas was President, CEO, and Chairman at Nexgen. Nexgen went public and became the only microprocessor to have significant success against Intel. In 1995, AMD acquired Nexgen.

Thomas has servedas the Chairman and CEO of PostX (now owned by Cisco), Director at Micro Linear Corporation (acquired by Sirenza), Director of Liquid Robotics,Board Member at Jupiter Research Foundation, and Director at Vintners' Alliance.