When Qualcomm spun off Leap Wireless International in September, Harvey White was the biggest name to leave the CDMA wireless mothership for the fledgling public company. White was one of the founders of Qualcomm and spent 13 years with the company. He joined Irwin Jacobs in 1978 at Qualcomm's predecessor, Linkabit, after answering a help-wanted ad. White went on to become executive vice president of Linkabit and later president of Qualcomm. "Part of my heart is at Qualcomm," says White. "I got the first contract for the company, for $1,200."
    Warm memories aside, White now is the man at the top, heading a company where service, not a wireless chip or gadget, is expected to carry the day. He may describe himself as "just a Virginia boy trying to make a living," but White seems extremely comfortable in his new role as chief executive at Leap. Overall, White, 65, says the two jobs have a lot in common. "The responsibilities are really very similar," he says. "However, there is a big difference in the markets we’re addressing — and we worry about different things."
    When he isn’t busy plotting the wireless service revolution, White can be found lending his leadership skills to a number of San Diego companies and organizations. He was recently elected to the board of Applied Micro Circuits Corp., a San Diego telecommunications company. He also is on the board of Solana Technology Development Inc.
    In the community, White serves on the boards of Scripps Health, the Old Globe Theatre, the Institute of the Americas and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., where he sits as vice chair.
    White and his wife Frances are generous supporters of San Diego organizations. They also have established scholarship funds and supported library and educational projects in West Virginia and Southern California. The couple live in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. They count among their chief pleasures having their three children and four grandchildren in the San Diego area. Of the children, one works at Leap and two at Qualcomm.
    When asked if one day the high-tech community will emerge as San Diego’s largest charitable benefactor, White answers by noting that philanthropy from San Diego’s emerging industries is improving. He recalls being told, when he first moved to San Diego in 1972, that more money from La Jollans flowed to the Pittsburgh Symphony than to the San Diego Symphony. That's changed. "Wealth was created elsewhere and retired here," White says. "Now, there is considerable wealth that has been created here and it will increase philanthropy in San Diego."

— Andrea Moser