Andrew Viterbi Received the Italian Cultural Institute Lifetime Achievement Award

On Wednesday, August 18 the Italian Cultural Institute bestowed the IIC Lifetime Achievement Award on Andrew Viterbi, electrical engineer and businessman. One of the fathers of mobile wireless communication, he invented the Viterbi Algorithm, used for decoding the digital data in which voice, messages and video are encoded.

He also cofounded Qualcomm, a leading company in wireless communication.

During this special evening, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary since its establishment, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura presented a book to highlight its most important events, from the Arlecchino with Ferruccio Soleri with the Piccolo Teatro Milan to the Purgatorio by Societas Raffaello Sanzio; from theMichelangelo Antonioni retrospective to The IIC Lifetime Achievement Award to Ennio Morricone; from the literary evenings with Claudio Magris and Umberto Eco to the presentation of Il Peso della farfalla by Erri de Luca; from the architecture lectures with Ettore Sottsass and Frank Gehry to the ones with Massimiliano Fuksas and Renzo Piano; from the design exhibitions by Bruno Munari and Paolo Pinifarina to Enzo Mari and Gaetano Pesce to the exhibition of drawings by Leonardo and installations by Bill Viola; from the lectures by Carlo Ginzburg and Remo Bodei to Gian Antonio Stella; from the concerts of contemporary music by Sylvano Bussotti to classical music with Martin Chalifour and his rare Stradivarius; to the Ring Festival LA organized by the Los Angeles Opera and inaugurated at the IIC with an exhibition of Maria Callas’ memorabilia.

The event was organized by the Institute in collaboration with the Italian Consulate General in Los Angeles and the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation (ISSNAF). It has been followed by the Director’s Farewell Reception. At the Italian Cultural Institute, 1023 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles. Tel. 310-443-3250 www.iiclosangeles.esteri.it