Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) CEO Lisa Su once joked that her parents were almost disappointed when she chose the Massachusetts Institute of Technology because her mother had hoped she would become a concert pianist instead.

Su Recalls Parents’ Exacting Standards

Su made the comment in a 2020 interview with Austin Woman’s Jenny Hoff, reflecting on a childhood in a Taiwanese American immigrant household where achievement was expected and excuses did not travel far. She said her parents pushed her to study hard, work hard and "always have to strive to be the best."

"My big failure to them was I went to Chinese school as a kid and my Chinese handwriting was horrible," Su said, laughing. "I always got a C in handwriting and it drove them crazy."

When Su later chose MIT, one of the world’s top engineering schools, Austin Woman wrote that her parents were nearly as disappointed as they had been over the handwriting grade. "I think my mother would have preferred I become a pianist instead of an engineer," Su said. "But I didn’t get into Juilliard. I got into MIT."

Piano Discipline Shapes Engineering Career

The line captures an unusual fork in one of technology’s most important careers. Su did not become a pianist, but she has credited the discipline of years of piano training and her parents’ standards with shaping her ambition and problem-solving mindset.

Su also described her mother as a major inspiration. "My mom’s been a large inspiration in my life," she said, noting that her mother built a multimillion-dollar import-export business while navigating life in the U.S. without perfect English.

That emphasis on effort later shaped Su’s leadership style. Time, which named Su its 2024 CEO of the Year, described how she rebuilt AMD after becoming CEO in 2014, focusing on stronger products, customer relationships and execution.

AMD Turnaround Echoes Family Lessons

Su joined AMD in 2012 and became CEO in 2014, after earning three MIT degrees in electrical engineering. Market-cap trackers recently placed AMD among the world’s 20 most valuable companies.

Her story notably echoes that of Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, who is Su’s cousin. Huang has often pointed to hardship, discipline and early work, including cleaning toilets at boarding school, as formative to his later success.

Benzinga Edge Rankings indicate AMD stock has a Momentum score in the 98th percentile and a Value score in the 3rd percentile.

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