Dr. Irwin Jacobs is co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Qualcomm Inc., co-founder of Linkabit Corporation, and was Professor of electrical engineering at MIT and UC San Diego. He was born in 1933 in New Bedford, MA. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1956 from Cornell University. In 1957 he received a master of science degree in electrical engineering and in 1959 a doctor of science degree from MIT. Dr. Jacobs co-authored the widely used textbook “Principles of Communication Engineering” with John Wozencraft, published in 1965.

In 1968, Dr. Jacobs co-founded Linkabit Corporation with Dr. Andrew Viterbi, which specialized in advanced communication technologies, and developed the Very Small Aperture Earth Terminals (VSATs) and the VideoCipher® satellite-to-home TV system. Over 100 San Diego communications companies can trace their roots to Linkabit. The company merged with M/A-COM in August 1980 and Dr. Jacobs served on its board until 1985.

In July 1985, Dr. Jacobs and Dr. Viterbi, along with colleagues Harvey White, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, and Franklin Antonio, founded Qualcomm – a name derived from their commitment to creating “QUALity COMMunications”. Dr. Jacobs served as CEO and Dr. Viterbi was the CTO. Qualcomm started out following Linkabit’s path, primarily working on government and defense projects.

Qualcomm enjoyed early success with its OmniTRACS satellite fleet management and telematics system for trucking companies. Eventually Qualcomm shifted its focus towards researching CDMA technology (Code Division Multiple Access). CDMA allowed multiple conversations to share the same frequencies at the same time, which offered increased spectrum efficiency over other digital technologies being evaluated for the transition from analog to digital cellular systems. Initially facing significant industry resistance, CDMA became fundamental in 2^nd and 3^rd generation digital cellular networks. Qualcomm’s pioneering work in CDMA positioned the company for a strong role in the licensing of patents for the Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) standard that followed. Although newer technologies have replaced WCDMA, Qualcomm continues as a global leader in communications and connectivity. Dr. Jacobs served as CEO of Qualcomm until 2005.

Dr. Jacobs has received numerous honors and awards, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1994, and the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal in 1995. In 2000, he was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame, and in 2011, he received the Marconi Prize and is a Marconi Fellow. In 2013, Dr. Jacobs was inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame, and received the Medal of Honor from the IEEE. Together he and Dr. Viterbi received the IEEE Milestone Award in 2017 for their CDMA and spread spectrum development. His many philanthropic efforts include donations to MIT, UC San Diego, Cornell University, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the San Diego Symphony. The engineering school at UCSD bears Dr. Jacobs’ name, and in 2010 he and his wife Joan joined the Giving Pledge, to give away most of their fortune to philanthropy.