Phil Hester

Phil Hester, 58, National Instruments Senior Vice President of Research & Development, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 17. Phil is survived by wife, Joan Hester and son, Will Hester of Austin; and by his parents, Sue and CD Hester of Corpus Christi and now Austin.

Phil was born in Corpus Christi, TX and graduated from Richard King High School. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He has resided in Austin, TX since 1973.

Since 2009, Phil continued his passion for engineering and technology at National Instruments. He was a mentor, colleague and friend to many. He also was a key driver in building a world-class global R&D team.

Phil had served as a director for ON Semiconductor where he chaired the Science and Technology Committee since 2006. He had served on the Engineering Advisory Board at the UT Austin Cockrell School of Engineering for many years.

Before joining NI, Phil was the Chief Technology Officer for AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). In 2000, he co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of the computer server company Newisys, a Sanmina-SCI Corporation.

Phil began his technology career at IBM where he spent 23 years serving in a variety of key leadership and executive technical roles. While at IBM Phil lead a number of system technology efforts including the RS/6000 and served as one of 15 member of the IBM Corporate Technology Council and as the chief technology officer and vice president of systems and technology for the PC division.

He was recognized as the first Outstanding Young Alumnus by the University of Texas at Austin College of Engineering. Hester held more than 10 patents related to microprocessor architecture, memory controllers, and microprocessor testability.

Phil was a valued friend and colleague in the technology community and will be greatly missed.

Phil was a kind, loving husband and father. No one could be more completely devoted to (or bring more joy to) his family than Phil. His kindness and generosity was legendary. He was a friend to all who came in contact with him.

Phil particularly enjoyed being near the water and diving with his wife Joan. He and his son shared a love of cars, technology and finance.

If anybody epitomized the saying that the good die young it is Phil.

Visitation will be Friday, September 20 from 6 – 8 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish on 2620 South Congress Avenue. Funeral service will be held Saturday, Sept. 21 at 11 a.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish, 2620 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78704.

Pallbearers are Will Hester, Mike Day, Clay Cipioni, Scott Rust, Carl Schleuder and John Schleuder. Honorary pallbearers are Doyce Hester and Don Schleuder.

In lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations to the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering at:

Cockrell School of Engineering

The University of Texas at Austin

1 University Station C2104

Austin, TX 78712-0287