April 16, 2013
LA JOLLA, CA—On April 12, the Salk Institute unanimously approved the election of Sanjay Jha, former CEO of Motorola Mobility, to its Board of Trustees.
“Sanjay’s extraordinary record of success as a leader in technology and business makes him a valuable addition to our board,” says Salk Board Chairman Irwin M. Jacobs. “His wide-ranging curiosity, experience and professional expertise will provide valuable support as we further expand the Institute’s scientific impact.”
Jha is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobility and previously served as the co-chief executive officer of Motorola. Under his leadership, the struggling company was transformed into a powerhouse in the mobile phone market, primarily due to Jha’s decision to take a huge risk on the Android smart phone. After four years with the company, he stepped down as CEO in May 2012 after Google completed acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
Prior to joining Motorola, Jha served as chief operating officer of Qualcomm Incorporated where he oversaw corporate research and development, Qualcomm Flarion Technologies (QFT). He also served as president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT), Qualcomm’s chipset and software division during a period of rapid growth.
Jha began his career at Qualcomm in 1994 as a senior engineer with Qualcomm’s very large-scale integration (VLSI) group, working on the Globalstar satellite phone, and later on the first 13k vocoder ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In 1997, Jha was promoted to vice president of engineering, where he was responsible for running the integrated-circuit engineering group. He led and oversaw the development of five generations of modem and cell site chipsets, both digital baseband and radio frequency, and system software. Jha was promoted to senior vice president of engineering in 1998. In 2002, Jha led the formation of Qualcomm Technologies & Ventures, where he managed both the technology investment portfolio and the new technology group as senior vice president and general manager. Jha became executive vice president of Qualcomm and president of QCT in 2003. He was named COO in December 2006.
Prior to joining Qualcomm, Jha held lead design engineering roles with Brooktree Corporation in San Diego, and GEC Hirst Research Labs in London, England.
Jha holds a Ph.D. in electronic and electrical engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. He received his bachelor’s of science degree in engineering from the University of Liverpool, England.
About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is one of the world’s preeminent basic research institutions, where internationally renowned faculty probe fundamental life science questions in a unique, collaborative, and creative environment. Focused both on discovery and on mentoring future generations of researchers, Salk scientists make groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and infectious diseases by studying neuroscience, genetics, cell and plant biology, and related disciplines.
Faculty achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including Nobel Prizes and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1960 by polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, M.D., the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark.
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