Marty Cooper, Illinois Tech Alumnus and ‘Father of the Cell Phone,’ Receives 2025 Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award

(Press-News.org) CHICAGO—December 17, 2025—Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) university life trustee Marty Cooper (EE ’50, M.S. ’57)—a pioneer in the field of mobile communications who’s considered the “Father of the Cell Phone”—has been awarded the 2025 Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award. Cooper, an Illinois Tech alumnus and former professor, was recognized for his lifetime of leadership in wireless communications, entrepreneurship, and public service, and for inspiring others through his work, mentorship, and commitment to improving lives through technology.

Cooper’s long career is marked by numerous accomplishments and distinctions. He received the Marconi Prize in 2013 and last year was honored with the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the United States’ highest honor for technological achievement.

“I’m honored to receive this recognition from the Marconi Society,” says Cooper. “I am enthusiastic about the Society’s Young Scholars program and its agenda to foster digital inclusion throughout the world. This agenda is reflective of the leadership of the people who inspired me in my years as a student, teacher, and as a Board member at Illinois Tech. My mentors at Motorola, Bob Galvin and John Mitchell, were passionate about the university’s mission to deliver a superb education to students everywhere in the world. Bob’s son Michael Galvin, Illinois Tech’s present chairman of the Board, and Raj Echambadi, its president, inspire me in the same way today.

“Illinois Tech taught me principles that survived through multiple generations of technology; that was the foundation of a career as an engineer, inventor, and businessperson that continues today. I’m glad to give back to a university that teaches students that human need drives innovation, that technology is the application of science to create products and services that make people’s lives better. Illinois Tech’s dual emphasis on theory and hands-on understanding of real human problems is excellent training for students who want to impact the world. I hope this recognition from the Marconi Society serves as an inspiration for them.”

Cooper’s path to inventing the cell phone began when he was a senior engineer at Motorola in the 1960s, before any cordless phones were even on the market. Recognizing that people are inherently mobile and seeing the freedom that technologies such as two-way radios and pagers brought to users, Cooper envisioned a personal mobile radio and persuaded a Chicago police superintendent to equip his officers with handheld two-way radios. In 1973 Cooper and his team introduced both the world’s first handheld cell phone and a system to support it—and he placed the first call to a rival at AT&T Bell Labs.

“Marty Cooper’s unparalleled contribution to the field of wireless communication has transformed society and the economy on a fundamental level—enabling humans to stay connected from across the globe and untethering us from desks and landlines,” says Illinois Tech President Raj Echambadi. “This honor is richly deserved, and Illinois Tech is proud to count him as part of our community.”

After leaving Motorola in 1983, Cooper co-founded Cellular Business Systems, a leader in the cellular billing industry, which he later sold. In 1986, he and wife, Arlene Harris, a fellow inventor and entrepreneur, co-founded Dyna, LLC, a technology-solutions company. Cooper also co-founded ArrayComm, Inc., whose signal processing software maximizes the range, capacity, and quality of cellular and broadband systems. When Harris invented the Jitterbug senior cell phone, Cooper supported her as an officer and director of GreatCall, Inc., the company that manufactured the Jitterbug phone.

Today Cooper is a global thought leader on personal communication devices, wireless technology, and spectrum use. He introduced the Law of Spectral Capacity—known as Cooper’s Law—which predicts the improvement over time of spectrum capacity in cellular networks. He continues to serve on the Federal Communications Advisory Committee. Most recently, he has invented a new type of hearing aid that uses artificial intelligence to allow people with severe hearing deficiency to hear.

“Marty’s determination and spirit of invention have shaped telecommunications and the world moreover,” says Michael P. Galvin (LAW ’78), chair of the Illinois Tech Board of Trustees and son of former Motorola CEO Bob Galvin. “As someone who grew up seeing his father champion innovation, I find Marty’s continued dedication to improving the lives of others through technology personally inspiring. This latest honor reflects Marty’s lifetime of pushing boundaries and imagining a better future, a legacy that we hope to emulate at Illinois Tech.” 

Cooper is the recipient of numerous other honors and awards, including the National Academy of Engineering Charles Stark Draper Prize and the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. He is an inaugural member of the Wireless History Foundation’s Wireless Hall of Fame, a fellow of the IEEE and the Radio Club of America, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Illinois Tech and four other universities awarded Cooper honorary degrees.

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