President Biden visits Wolfspeed, company co-founded by alumnus, trustee John Edmond ’83
President Joe Biden made a visit March 29 to Wolfspeed, a Durham, NC, semiconductor manufacturer co-founded by Alfred University alumnus John Edmond ’83. Biden’s visit served to kick off his “Investment in America” tour, in which the president discussed the importance of reviving American manufacturing.
Edmond commented in a story on Biden’s visit, which aired on Raleigh-Durham area television station WRAL.
Wolfspeed was founded in 1987 by Edmond and five others, including four fellow graduate students at North Carolina State University. At the time, the company was named Cree Inc. and initially focused on producing LEDs and, later, LED lighting solutions. The company—which changed its name to Wolfspeed in the fall of 2021 when it moved from NASDAQ to being listed on the New York Stock Exchange—is now a global leader in the development and manufacture of silicon carbide power and radio frequency semiconductors.
In April 2022, Wolfspeed opened a $1 billion silicon carbide chip manufacturing facility in Marcy, NY. The facility is touted as the world’s first, largest, and only producer of 200mm silicon carbide wafers, which are used to produce components utilized in solar panels, home appliances, and electric vehicles, including those made by General Motors and luxury automaker Lucid Motors.
Edmond, who earned a bachelor's degree in ceramic engineering from Alfred University in 1983, went on to earn a doctorate in materials science from North Carolina State. He is a member of the Alfred University’s Board of Trustees.