The exhibit chronicled some of the entrepreneurs who made San Mateo County known around the world for advances in such fields as finance, high tech, and biotech.
The work of business leaders in San Mateo County has changed our daily life – from innovations that make banking more accessible to microchips that speed communications to advances in medicine.
Look for their successors in the new Peninsula Innovators exhibit.
Opened: July 29, 2006
Closed: April 7, 2024
Location: Thomas J. Fogarty Gallery
The exhibit highlighted the stories of entrepreneurs who lived or worked in San Mateo County.
History came alive through hands-on activities. Visitors could play Are You an Entrepreneur?, a computer game exploring what entrepreneurs do.
Related Materials: Learn more in “San Mateo County History Makers: Entrepreneurs Who Changed the World,” part of San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History by Mitchell P. Postel.
* Featured in the exhibit’s Theatre of Innovation film.
Herbert Boyer and Robert Swanson started Genentech to develop practical uses for engineered proteins. The company has produced, tested and marketed genetically engineered human insulin, interferon, growth hormone, clotting factors and numerous other biological products.
Thomas Fogarty has saved millions of lives by pioneering the tools and methods of less invasive surgery. Fogarty invented the balloon embolectomy catheter to safely remove arterial blood clots. He was the Historical Association’s 2006 San Mateo County History Maker.
A.P. Giannini, founder of the Bank of Italy and the subsequent Bank of America, brought banking services to ordinary people. He pioneered consumer-friendly products like home mortgages, auto loans, home equity loans and installment credit.
Charles B. Johnson became president of Franklin Templeton Investments at age 24. He was convinced that mutual funds were the best way for average investors to reach their financial goals.
In 1937, McLellan developed the fragrant gardenia as the ideal corsage flower. He also began cultivating exotic orchids as houseplants. Determined to be the biggest orchid grower in the world, his Acres of Orchids became one of San Mateo County’s top tourist attractions. Read more in La Peninsula: “The Peninsula’s Bright Gems: Roderick McLellan and His Acres of Orchids” (Winter 2014).
In 1965, Moore predicted that the power of the silicon chip would double almost annually, with a proportionate decrease in cost. “Moore’s Law” became a guiding principle of the industry. With Robert Noyce, Moore started Intel in 1968, and in 1971 the company introduced the world’s first single-chip microprocessor. Items from the Moore family’s journey west are on display in Land of Opportunity, his father worked as a bailiff in Courtroom A, and his badge collection is in the Atkinson Room. Moore was the 2004 San Mateo County History Maker.
Born in Russia, Poniatoff moved to California for a job at Dalmo Victor Company in San Carlos. He started Ampex in 1944. The company developed the first American audio tape recorder and invented the videotape recorder.
Charles Litton held 66 patents on various high-tech innovations. During World War II, Litton Engineering produced a radar tube so effective he was given awards of excellence from the Army and the Navy.