Effective October 1, 2012, QUALCOMM Incorporated completed a corporate reorganization in which the assets of certain of its businesses and groups, as well as the stock of certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries, were contributed to Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated. Learn more about these changes

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Dr. Paul E. Jacobs

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Qualcomm Incorporated

Dr. Paul E. Jacobs is chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Qualcomm Incorporated. A leader in the field of mobile communications for more than 25 years and a key architect of Qualcomm’s strategic vision, Dr. Jacobs’ responsibilities include leadership and oversight of all the Company’s initiatives and operations.

Through his technology innovations and advocacy, Dr. Jacobs spearheaded Qualcomm’s efforts to develop and commercialize mobile technology breakthroughs that have significantly contributed to the growth of both the Company and the industry. Important developments which began under Dr. Jacobs include: the first smartphone based on Palm OS®; inclusion of GPS capabilities in mobile phones (which led to the acquisition of SnapTrack™ and Qualcomm's development of gpsOne™ position-location technology); the Brew® system, which enables over-the-air downloading of applications; QChat, a Voice over IP, push-to-talk system; and mirasol®, an advanced reflective display technology.

Following the completion of his Ph.D. in 1989 and a year as a post-doctoral researcher at a French government lab in Toulouse, Dr. Jacobs joined the Company fulltime in 1990 as a development engineer leading the mobile phone digital signal processor software team. Five years later, Dr. Jacobs became vice president and general manager of the combined handset and integrated circuit division, which was subsequently divided into Qualcomm Consumer Products and QCT, respectively. Dr. Jacobs became CEO in July 2005 and was appointed chairman in 2009.

As an innovative leader of a broad range of technical teams within Qualcomm, Dr. Jacobs has been granted more than 45 patents for his inventions in the areas of wireless technology and devices. Dr. Jacobs is chairman of the U.S.-Korea Business Council and of the Advisory Board of the University of California, Berkeley, College of Engineering; vice chairman and co-owner of the NBA Sacramento Kings; Global eHealth Foundation Ambassador; a member of the US-India CEO Forum and trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Dr. Jacobs received his bachelor's (1984) and master's (1986) degrees, as well as his doctorate (1989) in electrical engineering, from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Jacobs is a recipient of a number of industry, academic and corporate leadership awards:

2007–2013 Institutional Investor, List of America’s Best (Telecom Sector) - Best CEO
2008 Berkeley Engineering Innovation Award
2008 Radio Club of America, The Sarnoff Citation
2009 IEEE CASS Industrial Pioneer Award
2010 Higginbotham Corporate Leadership Award
2011 Laptop Magazine, 25 Most Influential People in Mobile
2011 NCAFP Global Business Leadership Award
2011–2012 Global Telecoms Business, Power 100
2012 VentureBeat, Top Ten Mobile Movers
2012 FORTUNE, Ten Brilliant Technology Visionaries
2012 Samsung Award of Honor
2013 Sesame Workshop, Corporate Leadership Award
2013 Edison Achievement Award