Viterbi was born to an Italian family[2] in Bergamo, Italy and emigrated with them to the United States two years before World War II.

[citation needed] Viterbi attended the Boston Latin School, and then entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1952, studying electrical engineering.

[3] After receiving his PhD, he applied successfully for an academic position at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

It is still used widely in cellular phones for error correcting codes, as well as for speech recognition, DNA analysis, and many other applications of Hidden Markov models.

[4] Viterbi also helped to develop the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard for cell phone networks.

He continues to be involved in wireless communications technology companies as a strategic advisor to Ingenu's board of directors.

Viterbi and Irwin M. Jacobs received the 2007 IEEE/RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award, for "fundamental contributions, innovation, and leadership that enabled the growth of wireless telecommunications".

[11][12] In September 2008, he was awarded the National Medal of Science for developing "the 'Viterbi algorithm', and for his contributions to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) wireless technology that transformed the theory and practice of digital communications".

In 2017, Viterbi, along with Irwin Jacobs, received the IEEE Milestone Award for their CDMA and spread spectrum development that drives the mobile industry.

In 1941, during World War II, the Finci family fled German-occupied Yugoslavia for the Italian-occupied zone from which they were deported and interned in the Parma region of Italy.