Director
Qualcomm Incorporated

Irwin Mark Jacobs co-founded Qualcomm Incorporated in 1985.  He served as CEO until 2005, chairman until 2008, and is currently a director. Heled the successful development and commercialization of CDMA technology, now used in all third generationcellular phones by over 1.2 billion subscribers.  He holds 14 CDMA patents. Qualcomm is a Fortune 500 Company and has been named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in each of the past twelve years.

In 1969, Dr. Jacobs co-founded LINKABIT Corporation, leading it as CEO and Chairman in the development and production of a number of innovative military and commercial products. The company merged with M/A-Com in 1980, and he remained as executive vice president and board member of M/A-Com until 1985. Over 100 San Diego companies have traced their roots to LINKABIT.

Dr. Jacobs was assistant and associate professor of electrical engineering at MIT from 1959 to 1966 before moving to San Diego in 1966 to help establish electrical engineering at UCSD. He served as professor of Information and Computer Science until 1972. While at MIT, he coauthored Principles of Communication Engineering, the first textbook on digital communications.

Dr. Jacobs received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1956 from Cornell University and master of science and doctor of science degrees in electrical engineering from MIT in 1957 and 1959, respectively. Dr. Jacobs was named Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Salk Institute in November 2006 and Chair of the National Academy of Engineering in July 2008.

He is the recipient of numerous industry, education and business awards, including; Election to the National Academy of Engineering, 1982; The National Medal of Technology Award, 1994; The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, 1995; Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2001; Bower Award in Business Leadership, the Franklin Institute, 2001; Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, The Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA), 2003; Dorothy I. Height Chair?s Award, Leadership Council on Civil Rights, 2004; Honorary Professorship, Beijing University of Posts & Telecom (BUPT), 2005; Lifetime Achievement Award (for 25 years in telecommunications), Financial Times, 2005; IEEE/ Royal Society of Edinburgh Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award, 2007; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2010; and the Marconi Society Fellowship and Prize, 2011.