Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, the First CONNECT Hall of Fame Inductee.

Today I attended the CONNECT luncheon honoring Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of QUALCOMM, the pioneering leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital technology that in all likely hood runs your cell phone. Dr. Jacobs shared his story, including personal insights, distilling it all into a simple message; he is a very lucky person. However, luck aside, it is readily apparent that Dr. Jacobs has worked extremely hard to build QUALCOMM into the world class technology leader it is today. Among many of his other accomplishments, philanthropy, and strong family ties, Dr. Jacobs pointed to the importance of education, at all levels, as being a cornerstone of this country’s future. He clearly sees a bright future connected and educated via increasingly powerful mobile computers we fondly carry around in the form of a cell phone.

Dr. Jacobs and his wife, Joan, continue their generous support of UCSD, SDSU, Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Museum of Contemporary Art, the San Diego Center for Children and the Salk Institute.

It was my pleasure to introduce Dr. Jacobs to Dr. Howard Evans, Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at National University. They had a nice chat about engineering and education.

Special thanks to San Diego National Bank members, Robert, Linda, Harvey, Krista, Susan, and Dave for letting me sit at their table. San Diego National Bank is a Contributing Sponsor for this event.