February 18, 2000

Qualcomm co-founder retiring

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Qualcomm co-founder Andrew Viterbi, who was instrumental in developing the company's popular digital wireless technology that touts better security, will retire next month, the company said Thursday.

Viterbi, the company's co-chairman, co-founded Qualcomm in 1985 with Irwin Jacobs and Harvey White after retiring from Linkabit, another company he and Jacobs co-founded.

Viterbi, who will be 65 next month, will remain a member of Qualcomm's board.

Viterbi will continue working in the engineering field through his positions with the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.

Code division multiple access, or CDMA, which claims to allow longer battery life and clearer reception than other types of wireless service, was initially rejected in the early 1990s, but later embraced thanks in part to Viterbi's persistence in pushing the technology.

"My decision to retire is mixed with some sadness, but I feel comfortable in leaving at a time when CDMA is increasingly viewed as the technology of choice for wireless communications," Viterbi said in a statement.

While Jacobs has taken the public spotlight at Qualcomm, Viterbi has quietly earned 10 patents, and has written several articles and technical books.

"After having founded two companies with him, I have the highest personal regard and deep admiration for him as a colleague and friend," said Jacobs, Qualcomm's chairman and CEO.

Viterbi was 4 when his family emigrated from Italy just hours before the outbreak of World War II. Growing up in Boston across the river from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Viterbi has said he dreamed of becoming an engineer.

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in science from MIT and his doctorate from the University of Southern California.

Shares of Qualcomm were up $8.12.5, or nearly 7 percent, at $130 on the Nasdaq Stock Market at 4:15 p.m. Thursday.