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Honoree

Andrew Viterbi

With our experience as children escaping virulent European Anti-Semitism and as uprooted young refugees brought to America, in the ensuing half a century we have fulfilled the immigrant’s dream of acceptance, achievement and the establishment of roots by creating a multi-generational close-knit family. To honor the memory of our parents who brought us to safety, freedom and opportunity, to further our support for the continuation and strengthening of Jewish life in this land, in Israel and throughout the world, and especially to set an example for our future generations, we endow our continuing philanthropic commitment. 
—Erna and Andrew Viterbi, Book of Life Inscription, Jewish Community Foundation, December 2001  

*Andrew Viterbi was the 12th Jewish Community Foundation President, serving 2002-2003.

Honored by Irvin & Jacqueline Jacobs, Del Mar, California, September 12, 2005      Articles about Andrew Viterbi

I choose to honor Andrew Viterbi, co-founder of the communications giant Qualcomm, a major San Diego industry. An Italian Jewish four-year old refugee immigrant to this country in 1939, just days before the outbreak of World War II, he attended MIT and
later earned a Ph.D in electrical engineering from USC in 1962.  He has taught at UCLA, UCSD, the Technion, and USC. To the latter, he and his wife Erna donated this year $52 million to its School of Engineering. In 1966, while pre-occupied and doodling during a family Purim celebration, he invented the Viterbi algorithm.  This system allowed the accurate and rapid decoding of numerous overlapping electromagnetic signals, a groundbreaking mathematical formula for eliminating signal interference.  Today it is embedded in most cell phones and, I might add, also imprinted on USC T-shirts.  Later contributions by Viterbi have further advanced radio communications. A former president of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, Viterbi is proud as well to have served as president of Congregation Beth El in La Jolla and even prouder that his son, Alan, holds the same post today. Viterbi has played a major role in aiding Jewish institutions in the San Diego area and in Israel.  Until his mega-gift to USC, it is estimated that he assigned 60 percent of his total giving to Jewish causes and 40 percent to general ones. Jewish causes include the San Diego Jewish Academy, the United Jewish Federation Building, named in honor of his wife's parents, and the Technion in Haifa and various start-up companies in Israel. Other civic causes include public radio station KPBS, MIT, and UCLA.
—Irvin H. Jacobs, MD, MPH, Del Mar, California, October 28, 2005