Qualcomm Honors Verizon's Dick Lynch With $100,000 Donation to the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center

CHATHAM, Mass., SAN DIEGO, and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualcomm today honored Verizon Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Dick Lynch with a $100,000 donation to Cape Cod's Chatham Marconi Maritime Center.  The donation will help the Center preserve and demonstrate the history of maritime wireless communication on Cape Cod and beyond and develop innovative education programs to explain how science and technology will enrich people's lives in the 21st century.  Lynch, the first recipient of Qualcomm's 25th Anniversary Technology Innovation Partner Award, was honored for his long career of leadership in the evolution of mobile wireless, now the largest technology platform in human history.

At the check presentation today at the Center, Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of the Americas and India for Qualcomm, said, "Qualcomm is extremely pleased to be honoring Dick's contributions and giving back through the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, a center dedicated to educational and community enrichment.  We are excited that the gift will enable the Center to build a new exhibit that will tell the story of wireless technology from the past to the present and highlight the importance of CDMA technology."  

Lynch, a native of eastern Massachusetts, a visitor to Cape Cod for more than 30 years and a summer resident of Chatham, is an acknowledged leader in the mobile services industry and has a long history of collaborating with Qualcomm to promote the proliferation of advanced mobile technologies.  His strong advocacy inspired several industry-leading wireless companies to adopt CDMA and other innovative technology solutions and platforms pioneered by Qualcomm.  

Lynch selected the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center to receive the $100,000 donation because of the Center's history in wireless and its commitment to education and preserving the history of wireless communications.

Lynch noted, "When you look at the great advances in mobile communications in the last few years – from the spread of digital technology, to wireless data and video, to the coming revolution in machine-to-machine communications – the collaboration between Verizon and Qualcomm has been instrumental in bringing the benefits of wireless to customers and driving one of the true growth engines of the world economy.  That's why it's fitting that we're together as partners here at this historic wireless station in Chatham, one of the most significant places in the early history of wireless communications, to begin to lay the foundation for the next generation of growth and technical excellence."

The mission of the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center is to preserve and demonstrate the history of maritime wireless communication on Cape Cod and beyond, and to develop innovative education programs to explain how science and technology will enrich people's lives in the 21st century.  The Center is located at the former Chatham Radio WCC Operations Building built by Guglielmo Marconi, who in 1903 astounded the world by sending a message from his 35,000-watt station in Wellfleet, Mass., to Poldhu, England, the first transatlantic communications originating in the United States.

Chuck Bartlett, president of the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, said, "We are extremely grateful to Qualcomm for the donation that will enable us to add significant content and realism to the exhibits at the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center.  The donation will also help expand our education initiative in compliance with the Massachusetts Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum to increase student interest in and preparation for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."

For more information on the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, please visit www.chathammarconi.org.  

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with  more than 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, Nasdaq: VOD).  For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About Qualcomm  

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) is the world leader in next-generation mobile technologies.  For 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of wireless communications, connecting people more closely to information, entertainment and each other.  Today, Qualcomm technologies are powering the convergence of mobile communications and consumer electronics, making wireless devices and services more personal, affordable and accessible to people everywhere.  For more information, visit Qualcomm around the Web: www.qualcomm.com; Corporate Blog: www.qualcomm.com/blog; Twitter: www.twitter.com/qualcomm; Facebook: www.facebook.com/Qualcomm.

About Chatham Marconi Maritime Center

The mission of the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center is to preserve and demonstrate the history of maritime wireless communication on Cape Cod and beyond, and to develop innovative education programs to explain how science and technology will enrich people's lives in the 21st century.  For more information, visit http://www.chathammarconi.org.

SOURCE Verizon Wireless