Panelist Bios:
IRWIN MARK JACOBS
Irwin Mark Jacobs is a board member of QUALCOMM Incorporated, a company he co-founded in 1985. As CEO through 2005 and Chairman through 2009, he led the growth from startup to Fortune 500 Company. Qualcomm pioneered the development and commercialization of CDMA mobile wireless technology, now adopted for all third-generation cellular communications and in use by over eight hundred million consumers worldwide for voice and mobile broadband Internet access. He holds thirteen CDMA patents. QUALCOMM has been named for 11 consecutive years to the Fortune list of The 100 Best Companies To Work For, ranking 16th in 2009.
Dr. Jacobs previously served as co-founder, CEO and chairman of LINKABIT Corporation, leading the development of Very Small Aperture Earth Terminals (VSATs) and the VideoCipher® satellite-to-home TV system. LINKABIT merged with M/A-COM in August 1980, and Dr. Jacobs served as executive vice president and a member of the board of directors until his resignation in April 1985. Over 100 San Diego communications companies trace their roots to LINKABIT.
From 1959 to 1966, Dr. Jacobs was an assistant, then associate professor of electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 1966 to 1972 he served as professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). While at MIT, Dr. Jacobs co-authored with Jack Wozencraft a textbook in digital communications Principles of Communication Engineering. First published in 1965, the book remains in use today.
Dr. Jacobs received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1956 from Cornell University and master of science and doctor of science degrees in electrical engineering from MIT in 1957 and 1959, respectively.
Dr. Jacobs was named Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Salk Institute In November 2006 and Chair of the National Academy of Engineering in July 2008.
He is the recipient of numerous industry, education and business awards, including:
Tripp Rackley
Firethorn Chief Executive Officer
Recognized as one of the top three innovators in financial services today by Bank Technology News, Tripp Rackley serves as Chief Executive Officer of Firethorn (www.firethornmobile.com), a Qualcomm company. Firethorn is the mobile banking and payments enabler delivering the market’s first mobile consumer wallet solution supported by the nation’s leading financial institutions and wireless carriers.
Since its official launch in November 2006, Firethorn has signed strategic partnerships with AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the nation’s second largest wireless carrier; brought the nation’s first financial institution live with mobile banking and payments in BancorpSouth; and secured agreements with multiple top 10 financial institutions.
A financial services technology veteran and online banking pioneer, Rackley determined from the outset that for mobile banking and payments to succeed and reach mass-market adoption, financial institutions and wireless carriers would have to work together. For this reason, he assembled an all-star board of advisors and management team, representing veteran leadership, market-making insight and track record of success in financial services and wireless communications, whose collective experience have:
Following Digital Insight, Rackley joined Noro-Moseley Partners from 2002 to mid-2005 as entrepreneur-in-residence. Noro-Moseley is a leading venture capital firm in the southeast focused on technology and healthcare investments. As entrepreneur-in-residence, Rackley evaluated investments, advised portfolio companies and developed future strategic business opportunities that focused on transaction processing.
Rackley currently serves as Chairman of the Board for BroadSource, Inc., a leading Telecom Expense Management software and services company. Under Rackley's direction, BroadSource changed business models, developed a more market-friendly solution, added a stellar management team, defined key vertical market niches, added new customers and raised $5.7 million in private equity and venture funding.
Business aside, Rackley focuses heavily on the Atlanta philanthropic community. A member of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church (PRUMC), Rackley and his wife Blair teach adult and children’s Sunday school. Rackley is also a solo facilitator of the Disciple I program, a 36-week intensive Bible study program. As part of the Disciple commitment, Rackley lead his class of twenty-plus students in several community service projects including PRUMC’s Great Day of Service as well as Habitat for Humanity and a children’s holiday toy drive.
A firm believer in early childhood education based on Christian principals, Rackley was instrumental in founding King’s Ridge Christian School in 2000. The school, located in Alpharetta, GA, now boasts over 300 students in kindergarten through grade 12.
Earning an engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992, Rackley was the Ernst & Young 2000 Regional Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) and has been a judge for both the national and regional EOY awards since 2001. He served as Chairman of the Technology Association of Georgia in 2003 and was appointed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to serve on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Technology Authority.
For his alma mater Georgia Tech, Rackley serves on the Board for the Alexander Tharpe Foundation, is a member of the Georgia Tech Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) Advisory Board and was inducted into the Georgia Tech Engineering Hall of Fame.
IRWIN MARK JACOBS
Irwin Mark Jacobs is a board member of QUALCOMM Incorporated, a company he co-founded in 1985. As CEO through 2005 and Chairman through 2009, he led the growth from startup to Fortune 500 Company. Qualcomm pioneered the development and commercialization of CDMA mobile wireless technology, now adopted for all third-generation cellular communications and in use by over eight hundred million consumers worldwide for voice and mobile broadband Internet access. He holds thirteen CDMA patents. QUALCOMM has been named for 11 consecutive years to the Fortune list of The 100 Best Companies To Work For, ranking 16th in 2009.
Dr. Jacobs previously served as co-founder, CEO and chairman of LINKABIT Corporation, leading the development of Very Small Aperture Earth Terminals (VSATs) and the VideoCipher® satellite-to-home TV system. LINKABIT merged with M/A-COM in August 1980, and Dr. Jacobs served as executive vice president and a member of the board of directors until his resignation in April 1985. Over 100 San Diego communications companies trace their roots to LINKABIT.
From 1959 to 1966, Dr. Jacobs was an assistant, then associate professor of electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 1966 to 1972 he served as professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). While at MIT, Dr. Jacobs co-authored with Jack Wozencraft a textbook in digital communications Principles of Communication Engineering. First published in 1965, the book remains in use today.
Dr. Jacobs received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1956 from Cornell University and master of science and doctor of science degrees in electrical engineering from MIT in 1957 and 1959, respectively.
Dr. Jacobs was named Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Salk Institute In November 2006 and Chair of the National Academy of Engineering in July 2008.
He is the recipient of numerous industry, education and business awards, including:
- Election to the National Academy of Engineering, 1982
- The National Medal of Technology Award, 1994, the highest award bestowed by the president of the United States, for extraordinary achievements in the commercialization of technology
- The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, 1995
- The American Electronics Association (AEA) Medal of Achievement Award, 1998
- Radio Communication Report (RCR) Wireless Hall of Fame, March 2000
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, April 2001
- Bower Award in Business Leadership, the Franklin Institute, April 2001
- Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, The Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA), December 2003
- Dorothy I. Height Chair’s Award, Leadership Council on Civil Rights, May 2004
- Honorary Professorship, Beijing University of Posts & Telecom (BUPT), October 2005
- Lifetime Achievement Award (for 25 years in telecommunications), Financial Times, Dec 2005
- IEEE/ Royal Society of Edinburgh Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award with Andrew Viterbi, June 2007,
Tripp Rackley
Firethorn Chief Executive Officer
Recognized as one of the top three innovators in financial services today by Bank Technology News, Tripp Rackley serves as Chief Executive Officer of Firethorn (www.firethornmobile.com), a Qualcomm company. Firethorn is the mobile banking and payments enabler delivering the market’s first mobile consumer wallet solution supported by the nation’s leading financial institutions and wireless carriers.
Since its official launch in November 2006, Firethorn has signed strategic partnerships with AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the nation’s second largest wireless carrier; brought the nation’s first financial institution live with mobile banking and payments in BancorpSouth; and secured agreements with multiple top 10 financial institutions.
A financial services technology veteran and online banking pioneer, Rackley determined from the outset that for mobile banking and payments to succeed and reach mass-market adoption, financial institutions and wireless carriers would have to work together. For this reason, he assembled an all-star board of advisors and management team, representing veteran leadership, market-making insight and track record of success in financial services and wireless communications, whose collective experience have:
- Implemented over 2,000 financial institutions and trained over 20,000 bankers;
- Structured Firethorn to operate as a federation that assembles, connects and manages the complex web of partners, network standards and platform interfaces that make mobile banking and payments possible;
- Engineered a secure and scalable technology platform that delivers comprehensive mobile banking and payments capabilities today with a readymade roadmap to proximity payments in the future;
- Designed the industry’s first and only true mobile consumer wallet solution, embedded on select AT&T handsets, that enables consumers to access, add and manage multiple financial relationships simply and securely on virtually any device, anywhere, anytime with a single password.
Following Digital Insight, Rackley joined Noro-Moseley Partners from 2002 to mid-2005 as entrepreneur-in-residence. Noro-Moseley is a leading venture capital firm in the southeast focused on technology and healthcare investments. As entrepreneur-in-residence, Rackley evaluated investments, advised portfolio companies and developed future strategic business opportunities that focused on transaction processing.
Rackley currently serves as Chairman of the Board for BroadSource, Inc., a leading Telecom Expense Management software and services company. Under Rackley's direction, BroadSource changed business models, developed a more market-friendly solution, added a stellar management team, defined key vertical market niches, added new customers and raised $5.7 million in private equity and venture funding.
Business aside, Rackley focuses heavily on the Atlanta philanthropic community. A member of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church (PRUMC), Rackley and his wife Blair teach adult and children’s Sunday school. Rackley is also a solo facilitator of the Disciple I program, a 36-week intensive Bible study program. As part of the Disciple commitment, Rackley lead his class of twenty-plus students in several community service projects including PRUMC’s Great Day of Service as well as Habitat for Humanity and a children’s holiday toy drive.
A firm believer in early childhood education based on Christian principals, Rackley was instrumental in founding King’s Ridge Christian School in 2000. The school, located in Alpharetta, GA, now boasts over 300 students in kindergarten through grade 12.
Earning an engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992, Rackley was the Ernst & Young 2000 Regional Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) and has been a judge for both the national and regional EOY awards since 2001. He served as Chairman of the Technology Association of Georgia in 2003 and was appointed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to serve on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Technology Authority.
For his alma mater Georgia Tech, Rackley serves on the Board for the Alexander Tharpe Foundation, is a member of the Georgia Tech Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) Advisory Board and was inducted into the Georgia Tech Engineering Hall of Fame.