Chris Rowen was the founder, president and chief executive officer of Tensilica, Inc. in 1997. They were pioneers in a new kind of microprocessor core and design methodology that made the instruction set and architecture flexible. Tensilica was acquired by Cadence in 2013 where he remains as a Cadence fellow.
Rowen founded MIPS in 1984. He served as a Vice President of Microprocessor Development of MIPS Computer Systems. Before that he served as a Vice President and General Manager of the Design Reuse Group of Synopsys.
He has served as a Director of the Electronic Design Automation Consortium.
Rowen holds a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, a BS in Physics from Harvard University and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
