February 21, 1964 – April 1, 2026
Alan Joseph Armstrong, 62, of Los Altos, California, passed away April 1 after a long and bravely fought battle with pancreatic cancer.
Alan was a distinguished semiconductor and storage technology executive, inventor, and entrepreneur whose career helped shape the evolution of modern data storage, from magnetic-disk read channels to enterprise solid-state systems. A first-generation college student, Alan earned his doctorate in Electrical Engineering (Communication Theory and Systems) at the University of California, San Diego. He went on to hold leadership roles at Cirrus Logic from 1992 to 1999, Marvell Semiconductor from 1999 to 2013, and later as founder and chief executive of CNEX Labs beginning in 2013. He built a patent portfolio that included more than 26 U.S. granted patents, marking only a part of his contributions to signal processing, data protection, and high-performance storage architecture.
Alan also had a big presence among his friends and family. He was life-loving on many fronts, cherishing good food and new experiences, including the company of people of all walks of life and opinions. He was also warm-hearted, funny, and generous towards those with whom he shared those experiences. He could always be counted on for great restaurant recommendations, but also for fair-minded insight about matters big and small. For all these graces, he shall be sorely missed.
He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Kathleen Burgoon Armstrong; his sons, Sean and Liam Armstrong; his mother, Kathy Hayes; his father, Charles “Charlie” Armstrong; his sister, Michele Armstrong, their spouses and a loving extended family.
