Viterbi, Andrew J.

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Biographical/Historical note

Andrew James Viterbi was born on March 9, 1935 in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, the only child of Dr. Achille and Maria Viterbi. In 1939, the Viterbi family immigrated to the United States due to the anti-Semitic laws passed in fascist Italy. They lived first in New York City, and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, when Andrew was six years old. Andrew attended the public schools in Boston, and graduated from Boston Latin School in 1952. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1957, and the Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1962.

Andrew Viterbi currently serves as President of the Viterbi Group, LLC, founded in 2000 in San Diego, California. The Viterbi Group advises and invests in startup companies, predominantly in wireless communications, network infrastructure and imaging.

In July 1985, Dr. Viterbi co-founded QUALCOMM Incorporated, a developer and manufacturer of mobile satellite communications and digital wireless telephony, where he served as Vice Chairman until 2000 and as Chief Technical Officer until 1996. Under his leadership, QUALCOMM received international recognition for innovative technology in the areas of digital wireless communication systems and products based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technologies. Previously in 1968, Dr. Viterbi co-founded LINKABIT Corporation, a digital communications company, where he served as Executive Vice President and later as President in the early 1980s.

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 did fundamental work in digital communication theory and wrote numerous research papers and two books, for which he has received international recognition. He continued teaching on a part-time basis at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), until 1994, where he is currently Professor Emeritus. Also in 2001 he was invited by Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, to become a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Electrical Engineering and in 2004 he was named to the President's Chair in the Department of Electrical Engineering Systems at USC.

From 1957 to 1963, Dr. Viterbi was a member of the Communications Research Section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), an operting division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California. While at JPL, he was one of the first communication engineers to recognize the potential of and propose digital transmission techniques for space and satellite telecommunication systems.

Dr. Viterbi has received numerous awards and recognition for his leadership and substantial contributions to communications theory and its industrial applications over the years. He has received honorary doctorates from universities in the United States, Canada, Italy and Israel, and has been otherwise honored in Japan, Germany, Italy and the United States. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Marconi Fellow, and a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 1997 until 2001, he served as a member of the U.S. President's Information Technology Advisory Committee. He is currently a trustee of the University of Southern California, a Board Member of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, a trustee of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California, and a member of the California Council on Science and Technology.

All four international standards for digital cellular telephony utilize the Viterbi algorithm for interference suppression, as do most digital satellite communication systems, both for business applications and for direct satellite broadcast to the home.

Erna Finci Viterbi was born on January 20, 1934, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Her parents were Joseph and Lenka Finci. Andrew and Erna married on June 15, 1958, in Los Angeles, California. They have 3 adult children: one daughter, Audrey M., and two sons, Alan R., and Alex.

From the guide to the Andrew J. and Erna Viterbi Family Archives, 1905-2007, (USC Libraries Special Collections)

Archival Resources
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creatorOf Andrew J. and Erna Viterbi Family Archives, 1905-2007 USC Libraries Special Collections
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associatedWith Adaptive Systems for Signal Processing, Communications, and Control Symposium (2000 : Lake Louise, . corporateBody
associatedWith Airtouch Communications. corporateBody
associatedWith Albert Einstein Award. corporateBody
associatedWith Alexander Graham Bell Medal. IEEE. corporateBody
associatedWith American Association for the Advancement of Science.. corporateBody
associatedWith American Mobile Satellite Corporation. corporateBody
associatedWith American Society for Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.. corporateBody
associatedWith Annual Forum on Technology, Society & Alternative Futures. corporateBody
associatedWith Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems & Computers.. corporateBody
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associatedWith BT Alex. Brown (Firm). corporateBody
associatedWith C&C Prize. corporateBody
associatedWith CDMA Americas Congress. corporateBody
associatedWith CDMA International Conference. corporateBody
associatedWith CDMA North American Regional Congress. corporateBody
associatedWith CDMA World Congress. corporateBody
associatedWith Cellular Technologies TecForum. corporateBody
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associatedWith Claude E. Shannon Award. Information Theory Society. IEEE. corporateBody
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associatedWith Ecole nationale supe?rieure des te?le?communications (France). ENST. corporateBody
associatedWith Eduard Rhein Foundation Award. corporateBody
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associatedWith Electronics '97 Show and Conference. corporateBody
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associatedWith ETH. Eidgenossische Technische Hochshule. corporateBody
associatedWith European Workshop on Mobile/Personal Satcoms (2nd : 1996 : Rome, Italy. corporateBody
associatedWith Expo Comm Wireless Japan Conference. corporateBody
associatedWith Finci, Atifa person
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associatedWith Green Mountain Falls Group. corporateBody
associatedWith Guglielmo Marconi Foundation. corporateBody
associatedWith Harvey Mudd College. Claremont Calif.. corporateBody
associatedWith Harvey Prize. Technion - Israel Institute of Technoloby. corporateBody
associatedWith Hebrew University of Jerusalem. corporateBody
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associatedWith IEEE Communications Society. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE Communications Society. Stephen O. Rice Award. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE Communication Theory. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE Information Theory Society. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE International Microwave Symposium. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. IEEE MTT-S. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium. corporateBody
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associatedWith IEEE Symposium on Information Technology. ISIT. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. corporateBody
associatedWith IEEE Workshop on VSLI Signal Processing. corporateBody
associatedWith Il Congresso degli Scienziati a Napoli. corporateBody
associatedWith IMT-2000 (3G) Wider Band CDMA Technology Conference. corporateBody
associatedWith Information Theory Society. IEEE. corporateBody
associatedWith INFOTEK '97. corporateBody
associatedWith Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.. IEEE. corporateBody
associatedWith INTER COMM 97 World Congress. corporateBody
associatedWith InterDigital Communications. corporateBody
associatedWith InterDigital Corporation. corporateBody
associatedWith International Conference on Communication Technology. corporateBody
associatedWith International Conference on Computer Communication. corporateBody
associatedWith International Conference on Mobile Computing & Networking. MOBICOM. corporateBody
associatedWith International Conference on Personal, Mobile Radio and Spread Spectrum. ICP-MSC '94. corporateBody
associatedWith International Conference on Personal Wireless Communications, IEEE. corporateBody
associatedWith International Conference on Universal Personal Communications (3rd : 1. corporateBody
associatedWith International Council for Computer Communication.. corporateBody
associatedWith International Mobile Satellite Conference. corporateBody
associatedWith International Symposium on Communications. corporateBody
associatedWith International Symposium on Information Theory and its Applications. ISITA '94. corporateBody
associatedWith International Symposium on Information Theory, IEEE. corporateBody
associatedWith International Symposium on Signals, Systems and Electronics (1995 : Sa. corporateBody
associatedWith International Symposium on Spread Spectrum Techniques and Applications. corporateBody
associatedWith International Symposium on Turbo Codes & Related Topics. corporateBody
associatedWith International Union of Radio Science. U.S.R.I.. corporateBody
associatedWith Internat'l Conf. on Information, Communications & Signal Processing. corporateBody
associatedWith IRC. corporateBody
associatedWith Italian Trade Commission. corporateBody
associatedWith Jacobs, Irwin Mark person
associatedWith Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA). NASA. California Institute of Technology. corporateBody
associatedWith Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego. corporateBody
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associatedWith Lawrence Family Jewish Community Centers (San Diego, CA). corporateBody
associatedWith Levi, Primo person
associatedWith Levi, Primo, 1854-1988 person
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associatedWith Lindsey, William C. person
associatedWith LINKABIT, Inc.. corporateBody
associatedWith Lin, Shu person
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associatedWith Los Alamos National Laboratory. Department of Energy. University of California. corporateBody
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associatedWith Marconi Fellowship. corporateBody
associatedWith Marconi Institute (New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Marconi International Fellowship. corporateBody
associatedWith Marconi International Fellowship Foundation. corporateBody
associatedWith Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. corporateBody
associatedWith Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT. corporateBody
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associatedWith Mobile Systems (Conference). corporateBody
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associatedWith Multimedia Forum. corporateBody
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associatedWith National Academy of Sciences. NAS. corporateBody
associatedWith National Aeronautics and Space Administration.. NASA. corporateBody
associatedWith National Italian American Foundation.. corporateBody
associatedWith National Radio Science Meeting. corporateBody
associatedWith National Science Foundation (U.S.). Directorate for Engineering. corporateBody
associatedWith NEC. corporateBody
associatedWith NEC Corporation. C&C Award. corporateBody
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associatedWith Nikkei Electronics. corporateBody
associatedWith Nikkei New Media. corporateBody
associatedWith Nikkei Research Institute. corporateBody
associatedWith Nokia. corporateBody
associatedWith Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Computer Sciences Division. corporateBody
associatedWith Omnipoint Communications Services. corporateBody
associatedWith OmniTRACS Corporation. corporateBody
associatedWith Omura, Jim K. person
associatedWith Online Symposium for Electronics Engineers. corporateBody
associatedWith Pacific Telephone. PacTel. corporateBody
associatedWith Padovani, Roberto person
associatedWith Paneth, Eric person
associatedWith People's Republic of China. Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. corporateBody
associatedWith Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications. PIMRC. corporateBody
associatedWith PIMRC. corporateBody
associatedWith PITAC. President's Information Technology Advisory C. corporateBody
associatedWith Princeton University. Coporate Affiliate Program. corporateBody
associatedWith Purdue University. . corporateBody
associatedWith QUALCOMM, Inc.. corporateBody
associatedWith Raphaeli, Dan person
associatedWith RCR. corporateBody
associatedWith Rechtin, Eberhardt person
associatedWith Regulatory Conference on Personal Communication Services. corporateBody
associatedWith Rice University.. corporateBody
associatedWith Rutgers University. Wireless Infomation Networks Lab. corporateBody
associatedWith San Diego Communications Council. corporateBody
associatedWith San Diego Jewish Academy. corporateBody
associatedWith Scripps Research Institute. corporateBody
associatedWith Shannon, Claude E. person
associatedWith Siegel, Paul H. person
associatedWith Simon, Marvin person
associatedWith Smart Antennas in Wireless Mobile Communications Workshop. corporateBody
associatedWith SONY Management Conference. corporateBody
associatedWith Stanford University. Dept. of Electrical Engineering. corporateBody
associatedWith Tatung Co.. corporateBody
associatedWith Tatung Schools Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. corporateBody
associatedWith Telecom '91. corporateBody
associatedWith Telecom '95. corporateBody
associatedWith Telecom 99 + Interactive 99. corporateBody
associatedWith Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson. corporateBody
associatedWith The Green Foundation. corporateBody
associatedWith Theseus International Management Institute. corporateBody
associatedWith UCLA Center for Jewish Studies. corporateBody
associatedWith UCLA. Computer Science Department. corporateBody
associatedWith UCSD Conference on Wireless Communications. corporateBody
associatedWith United Jewish Federation of San Diego County. corporateBody
associatedWith United States Department of Commerce. Commercial Service. corporateBody
associatedWith United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. corporateBody
associatedWith University of California, Berkeley. College of Engineering. corporateBody
associatedWith University of California, Los Angeles . UCLA. corporateBody
associatedWith University of California, San Diego. California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Te. University of California, San Diego. Center f. corporateBody
associatedWith University of California, San Diego. School of Engineering. Jacobs School of Engineering. corporateBody
associatedWith University of California, San Diego. UCSD. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dept. of Electrical and Co. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Judaism. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Maryland at College Park. Dept. of Electrical Engineerin. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Computer and Information Science Dept.. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Notre Dame. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Rome Tor Vergata. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Southern California . corporateBody
associatedWith University of Southern California. School of Engineering.. Viterbi School of Engineering. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Southern California. Viterbi School of Engineering.. Board of Councilors. corporateBody
associatedWith URSI. corporateBody
associatedWith U.S. Pacific Technologies Inc.. USPT. corporateBody
associatedWith Victor, Walter K. person
associatedWith Viterbi, Achille person
associatedWith Viterbi, Alan person
associatedWith Viterbi, Alex person
associatedWith Viterbi, Audrey M. person
associatedWith Viterbi, Erna person
associatedWith Viterbi, Eugenio person
associatedWith Viterbi, Maria person
associatedWith Viterbi, Olga person
associatedWith Vittal, N. person
associatedWith WARC-92 Conference (World Administrative Radio Conference of 1992) . corporateBody
associatedWith White, Harvey person
associatedWith Whizin International Symposium . corporateBody
associatedWith Wolf, Jack person
associatedWith World Summit on Financing for Satellite Communications and Broadcastin. corporateBody
associatedWith Zhang, Ta Cheng person
associatedWith Ziv, Jacob person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
space communication
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1935-03-09

English

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