Intel's former CEO Andrew S. Grove, who is credited with the transition of the company from making memory chips into microprocessors for the PC era, has passed away at the age of 79. Grove who became Intel's president in 1979 and CEO in 1987 was the first hire when founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore founded the company after quitting Fairchild Semiconductor in 1968. He had been hired by Moore at Fairchild as a researcher after graduation and rose to assistant head of research and development under Moore.