IN MEMORIAM FRANKLIN ANTONIO , MUIR ’ 74
FRANKLIN ANTONIO , MUIR ’ 74 , CO-FOUNDER OF
Qualcomm and a generous philanthropist , has died . He was 69 .
In 2017 , Antonio gave $ 30 million to UC San Diego to support the programmatic expansion of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering . In recognition of the gift , UC San Diego named Franklin Antonio Hall — a new building for collaborative engineering research and education that recently opened — in his honor . He was the first graduate from UC San Diego to have a building bear his name .
“ Franklin ’ s dedication and involvement with UC San Diego went far beyond his generous financial support ,” said Chancellor Pradeep K . Khosla . “ He was a good friend who provided wise counsel and an excellent mentor to many of our students and community members . He will be greatly missed , but his impact on UC San Diego and the world will continue through the collaborative research and innovation that will happen at Franklin Antonio Hall .”
Last year , Antonio was honored by UC San Diego as the 2021 Outstanding Alumni , one of the highest UC San Diego honors celebrating alumni who , through their distinguished work , have demonstrated Triton spirit and brought honor to the university .
Antonio was a co-founder of Qualcomm , where he served as the company ’ s chief scientist . After college , he worked at Linkabit for 12 years before joining Irwin Jacobs , Andrew Viterbi and four others to create Qualcomm in 1985 .
The newly opened Franklin Antonio Hall , is approximately 200,000 square feet and was designed from the ground up to facilitate cross-discipline collaborations that are critical for solving the toughest health , wireless communications , energy and computing challenges .
Thirteen collaborative research spaces , or “ collaboratories ,” make up the heart of Franklin Antonio Hall . Each collaboratory will house multiple professors and their respective research groups . The building was designed with the idea that co-locating diverse yet complementary research groups will encourage the interdisciplinary systemslevel collaborations necessary for solving the toughest challenges facing humanity .
“ It ’ s been fun to watch the incredible growth and evolution of UC San Diego since my graduation ,” Antonio said in 2017 . “ I ’ m privileged to be a small part of it .”
52 FALL 2022