Irwin Mark Jacobs (born October 18, 1933) is an electrical engineer, a co-founder and former chairman of Qualcomm, and chair of the board of trustees of the Salk Institute.In August 2013 he received the Medal of Honor from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which is the highest honor an engineer can receive from his or her peers. The IEEE said he was receiving the award not just for his innovations but for "the ability to translate innovation into industry applications, time after time after time."