Ricardo Valle
1934-2008
Born in Málaga and trained as a Doctor of Telecommunications Engineering at the Higher Technical School of Madrid, Ricardo Valle is regarded as one of Spain’s great pioneers in the field of telecommunications.
The second of four siblings, he was always passionate about everything related to technological advances, which he saw as a true revolution.
From a very young age, he became interested in telecommunications engineering, a field in which he said he had found a gap. This led him to pursue a degree that, at that time, was still in its early stages.
Once in Madrid, after completing his doctorate, he went on to become a professor of electromagnetism at the Higher Technical School and, later, founder and first director of the Barcelona Higher Technical School of Telecommunications Engineering.
In the 1960s, Ricardo Valle furthered his training abroad. Between 1962 and 1964, he was at the University of Göttingen, where he became familiar with a teaching model different from the Spanish one. Upon returning to Spain and resuming his teaching activity, he sent many of his first students to centres around the world, seeking to expose them to modern approaches and pave the way for the renewal of engineering education. Together with Rogelio Segovia, he became one of the great reformers of academic programmes and curricula.
The Málaga-born engineer who transformed the way telecommunications were taught
He led training, research and distance learning programmes at the Institute of Postgraduate Technology, Fundesco and the Polytechnic University of Madrid.
He had the vision to enable Spain’s brightest Telecommunications Engineering students to train at some of the world’s most prestigious universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Carnegie Mellon.
A great mentor to generations of professors and professionals, he opened new paths for the renewal of engineering education, leaving a profound mark through his vocation for service, his enthusiasm and his spirit of cooperation and innovation.
Technology as a contribution to human wellbeing
If there was one thing that drove Ricardo Valle to devote himself to the field of telecommunications, it was his belief in the immeasurable benefits it could bring to humanity.
The idea of “doing something useful” was deeply present throughout Ricardo Valle’s professional life, something that the Foundation regards as an essential part of his legacy.
He was awarded the IEEE Centennial Medal, in recognition of extraordinary achievement on the centenary of the founding of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
The Library of the Higher Technical Schools of Telecommunications Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid was renamed Ricardo Valle.
Posthumously, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade awarded Ricardo Valle the Plaque of Merit for Telecommunications and the Information Society.