Charles Trimble

Trimble was an electrical engineer from Caltech who led integrated circuit development at Hewlett-Packard before founding the company. He believed that the U.S. government's NAVSTAR GPS program, then exclusively military, would eventually be opened to civilian use. He provided approximately $300,000 in initial capital from personal savings and loans from friends. His founding philosophy was that satellite positioning could transform surveying, construction, agriculture, and mapping by providing unprecedented accuracy and efficiency.

Charles 'Charlie' Trimble is the co-founder and former CEO of Trimble Navigation (now Trimble Inc.). He holds a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from Caltech (1963) and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Caltech (1964). He worked at Hewlett-Packard leading integrated circuit development before founding Trimble in 1978. He served as CEO until 1998 and remained active in the GPS industry as chair of the U.S. GPS Industry Council from 1995 to 2016. He holds four patents in signal processing and several in GPS technology. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Council on Foreign Relations, and recipient of the NASA Public Service Medal (2001, 2004) and the Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award. After leaving Trimble, he mentored startups and served on boards. He was elected to the Caltech Board of Trustees in 2002 and became a Senior Trustee in 2013.