SAN DIEGO -- February 17, 2000 -- Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today announced that Dr. Andrew J. Viterbi, co-founder and vice chairman of Qualcomm, will retire upon reaching age 65 next month. Dr. Viterbi, who will remain a member of Qualcomm's Board of Directors, intends to broaden his scope of interests, devoting more time as an advisor to government, academia and the investment community.
"With Dr. Viterbi's active participation, Qualcomm received international recognition for innovative technology in the areas of digital wireless communications systems and products based on CDMA," said Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. "After having founded two companies with him, I have the highest personal regard and deep admiration for him as a colleague and friend."
"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," said Dr. Viterbi. "It has been an exciting and satisfying industrial career, enhanced by the opportunity to work with such dedicated, talented engineering and management teams that will continue to drive innovation in shaping the future of the wireless industry."
Widely recognized for his contributions to Qualcomm's core technologies of satellite and terrestrial digital wireless communications, Dr. Viterbi has been involved in developing CDMA for wireless communications and evangelizing the technology throughout the world. His earlier inventions are used in the vast majority of digital wireless phones, data terminals and digital satellite broadcast receivers, as well as in such diverse applications as magnetic recording, speech recognition and DNA sequence analysis.
Dr. Viterbi served as Qualcomm's chief technical officer from July 1985 through July 1996. Prior to co-founding Qualcomm, Dr. Viterbi co-founded LINKABIT Corporation in 1968, where he served as executive vice president and later as president.
A member of both the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, he currently serves on President Clinton's Information Technology Advisory Committee and the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California. Dr. Viterbi has received numerous awards for his leadership and contributions to the telecommunications industry and communications theory and practice. He was recently chosen to be inducted into the RCR Wireless Hall of Fame.
From 1963 to 1973, Dr. Viterbi served as a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Engineering and Applied Science, where he performed fundamental work in digital communication theory and wrote numerous research papers and two books, for which he has received international recognition.
Dr. Viterbi received his bachelor's of science and master's of science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1957, and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1962.
Qualcomm Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. The Company's business areas include integrated CDMA chipsets and system software; technology licensing; Eudora® email software for Windows® and Macintosh® computing platforms; and satellite-based systems including OmniTRACS® and portions of the Globalstar™ system. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in theS&P500 Index and is a 1999 FORTUNE 500® company traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including timely product development, the Company's ability to successfully manufacture significant quantities of CDMA or other equipment on a timely and profitable basis, and those related to performance guarantees, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 1999, and most recent Form 10-Q.
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