Tau Beta Pi Names Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs and Dr. Daniel D. Reneau as 2003 Distinguished Alumni

Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, has named the 2003 winners of its Distinguished Alumnus Award. Now in its seventh year, the award was established to recognize alumni who have demonstrated adherence to the ideals of Tau Beta Pi (integrity, breadth of interest, adaptability, and unselfish activity) and to fostering a spirit of liberal culture on local, national, and international scales.

Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs, New York Delta’56, chairman and CEO of QUALCOMM Inc., and Dr. Daniel D. Reneau, Louisiana Gamma’63, president of Louisiana Tech University, are the 2003 Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Alumni and will be honored on October 25, 2003, at the 98th annual national Convention to be held in Lubbock, Texas. Tau Beta Pi President Matthew W. Ohland, Ph.D., will present each a commemorative plaque and $2,000 scholarships will be given in their names to two deserving student members of Tau Beta Pi.

Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs has demonstrated outstanding adherence to the ideals of Tau Beta Pi and to fostering a spirit of liberal culture, not only through his academic excellence, but also through his exemplary leadership and his philanthropic generosity.

Educated at Cornell University and MIT, Dr. Jacobs taught at the institute from 1959-66 as an assistant/associate professor of electrical engineering. In 1965, he co-authored a basic text on digital communications, Principles of Communication Engineering, still in use today. During 1966-72, he was a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, San Diego.

It is his pioneering work on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology and its commercialization under his leadership that has enabled Dr. Jacobs to become the generous philanthropist that he is now. He co-founded QUALCOMM Inc. in July 1985, and today the company is a major competitor in the fastest-growing, digital wireless communications technology for third-generation wireless communication services. His several CDMA patents contributed to QUALCOMM’s extensive portfolio of more than 400 U.S. patents, 900 U.S. patents pending, and 95 company licensees for the manufacture of wireless devices and network infrastructure equipment, integrated circuits, and test equipment.

Dr. Jacobs has been honored with a multitude of awards for his achievements, inventions, leadership, entrepreneurship, and world citizenship. He has received the Presidential National Medal of Technology, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell medal, the AEA Medal of Achievement, the ARCS Scientist of the Year award for 2000, and the Franklin Institute Bower award in business leadership for 2001. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1982, and to the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.

Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs have become legendary in San Diego due to their generous contributions to both local academic and community endeavors. They provided $15 million in endowment support to the UCSD school of engineering, which was subsequently named for the Jacobs; $6 million to San Diego State University’s entrepreneurial management center, the center for research and mathematics and science education, and the college of education. A recent announcement of a $110 million gift to the Jacobs School of Engineering is the largest gift in the university’s history. The couple has made pledges totaling $135 million to the San Diego Symphony and three other groups and $5 million each to the La Jolla Playhouse, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and the Shiley Eye Center at UCSD. They recently founded the Jacobs Family Cottage, a home for troubled children.

Dr. Jacobs serves on the boards of numerous organizations, including the UCSD Foundation, and he is a past chair of the University of California president’s engineering advisory council. He is a fellow of the IEEE and a member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Eta Kappa Nu. In 1997, he was elected to the Council on Competitiveness, a group comprised of chief executives from business, universities, and labor unions which helps to set a national action agenda for U.S. leadership in global markets.

Throughout his life as student, engineer, professor, and administrator, Dr. Daniel D. Reneau has demonstrated visionary leadership while exhibiting concern and respect for students, colleagues, faculty, and the institution he serves. A 1963 chemical engineering graduate of Louisiana Tech University, Dr. Reneau has served as that school’s president since 1987, and today he is the dean of university presidents in the state of Louisiana. Since October 1990, Louisiana Tech has been cited as one of the top 200 national universities by U.S. News and World Report.

An examination of Dr. Reneau’s contributions to the campus community reveals his many talents. A chemical engineer who is interested in applying engineering principles to living systems, his early research contributed significantly to the understanding of cerebral palsy and its causes. He was also interested in how technology could be used to help people with disabilities overcome barriers.

Through his contribution to both basic research and the application of technology, Dr. Reneau brought recognition to Louisiana Tech nationally and internationally. He has published approximately 80 technical papers in both books and journals, edited five books, and attended more than 100 international meetings and conferences. It was during the 1980s, while he served as vice president for academic affairs at his institution, that his leadership became even more pronounced—every major program with an accrediting agency was accredited, and the center for biomedical engineering and rehabilitation science was established. Dr. Reneau himself received national recognition and was named a fellow of the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America in 1989, a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers in 2001, and winner of the Newel Perry award from the National Federation of the Blind in 2002. Dr. Reneau was selected by the board of trustees for state colleges and universities to be president of Louisiana Tech University in 1987. Since then he has made more notable contributions: the addition of doctoral programs in biomedical engineering and computational analysis and modeling; the implementation of selective admissions; the successful completion of a $50-million-plus, fund-raising campaign; and the achievement of I-A status for football. An institute for micromanufacturing and a technology transfer center were founded.

In nominating Dr. Reneau, Dean Leslie Guice remarked: “As one of only a handful of engineers who serve as university president, he has helped to elevate the stature of engineers as effective leaders of educational institutions. Dr. Reneau is quite possibly the most highly respected engineer in the State of Louisiana…. His vision for engineering education and research has helped political, government, and industry leaders to realize the imperative for strong and sustained support. That vision has further been a driving force in elevating this institution to a continuous focus on quality and excellence.”
Tau Beta Pi is proud to name Dr. Jacobs and Dr. Reneau as its 2003 Distinguished Alumni.