Dr. Richard L. Thurston, J.D., Ph.D.

Senior Advisor, FMC

Richard (Dick) Thurston is one of the foremost non-engineer semiconductor specialists in the United States, with a career spanning international law, intellectual property strategy, and technology policy across Asia and the Americas. He currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Great Lakes Semiconductor, focusing on the Canadian Provinces and U.S. States bordering the Great Lakes Region.

From 2001 to 2014, Mr. Thurston served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), based in Hsinchu, Taiwan. In that role he built TSMC’s best-in-class intellectual property and trade secret protection program, led major IP litigation worldwide, and drove significant legislative reform in Taiwan for trade secret protection. He also managed TSMC’s compliance, M&A, and joint venture activities, and subsequently served as a consultant to TSMC founder Dr. Morris Chang through 2017.

Following his tenure at TSMC, Mr. Thurston rejoined Duane Morris LLP in New York, leading their Taipei office and advising clients on IP and technology matters. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at Haynes and Boone (Dallas), where he chaired the International Practice Section, and served as Regional Counsel for Asia Pacific and Assistant General Counsel at Texas Instruments (1984–1996), with postings in Dallas and Tokyo.
Mr. Thurston is an active advisor across the semiconductor and IP landscape. He is a member of the Board of Executive Advisors of the International IP Commercialization Council (IIPCC), has served on WIPO panels on trade secret protection, and participated in the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act NSTC-IP Task Force. He is a member of the Advisory Board of StrategyRisks and the Licensing Executives Society (LES) Technology and Semiconductor Committees, and co-founded LES-Taipei in 2002. He is the founder of RLT Global Consulting LLC.

Mr. Thurston has written and lectured widely on semiconductor ecosystems, trade secret protection, and international technology investment. He was selected as ILO Asia-Pacific General Counsel of the Year in 2013, and has been recognized in IAM Strategy 300 each year from 2015 through 2025. He is fluent in Mandarin.

Mr. Thurston holds a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law, a Ph.D. and M.A. in East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia (Jefferson Scholar), and a B.A. — Cum Laude — in History from Alma College. He is admitted to the bar in Texas, New Jersey, and New York.