Vint Cerf
Encyclopedia
Vinton Gray "Vint" Cerf (ˈ; born June 23, 1943) is an American computer scientist
, who is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet
", sharing this title with American computer scientist Bob Kahn
. His contributions have been acknowledged and lauded, repeatedly, with honorary degrees and awards that include the National Medal of Technology
, the Turing Award
, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
, and membership in the National Academy of Engineering
.
In the early days, Cerf was a program manager for the United States Department of Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funding various groups to develop TCP/IP technology. When the Internet began to transition to a commercial opportunity during the late 1980s, Cerf moved to MCI
where he was instrumental in the development of the first commercial email system (MCI Mail
) connected to the Internet.
Vinton Cerf was instrumental in the funding and formation of ICANN
from the start. Cerf waited in the wings for a year before he stepped forward to join the ICANN
Board. Eventually he became the Chairman of ICANN
.
In 1992 he co-founded, with Bob Kahn
the Internet Society
to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education and policy.
Cerf has worked for Google
as its Vice President
and Chief Internet Evangelist
since September 2005. In this function he has become well known for his predictions on how technology will affect future society, encompassing such areas as artificial intelligence
, environmentalism
, the advent of IPv6
and the transformation of the television industry and its delivery model.
Cerf also went to the same high school as Jon Postel
and Steve Crocker
; he wrote the former's obituary. Both were also instrumental in the creation of the Internet as we know it (see articles).
Since 2010, Cerf has served as a Commissioner for the Broadband Commission for Digital Development
, a UN
body which aims to make broadband internet technologies more widely available.
degree in Mathematics from Stanford University
was at IBM
, where he worked for less than two years as a systems engineer supporting QUIKTRAN
. He left IBM to attend graduate school at UCLA where he earned his M.S.
degree in 1970 and his Ph.D.
degree in 1972. During his graduate student years, he studied under Professor Gerald Estrin
, worked in Professor Leonard Kleinrock
's data packet networking group that connected the first two nodes of the ARPANet
, the predecessor to the Internet
, and "contributed to a host-to-host protocol" for the ARPANet. While at UCLA, he also met Robert E. Kahn, who was working on the ARPANet
hardware architecture. After receiving his doctorate, Cerf became an assistant professor at Stanford University
from 1972–1976, where he conducted research on packet network interconnection protocols and co-designed the DoD TCP/IP protocol suite with Kahn.
Cerf then moved to DARPA in 1976, where he stayed until 1982.
As vice president of MCI Digital Information Services from 1982–1986, Cerf led the engineering of MCI Mail
, the first commercial email service to be connected to the Internet. Cerf rejoined MCI during 1994 and served as Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy. In this role, he helped to guide corporate strategy development from a technical perspective. Previously, he served as MCI's senior vice president of Architecture and Technology, leading a team of architects and engineers to design advanced networking frameworks, including Internet-based solutions for delivering a combination of data, information, voice and video services for business and consumer use.
During 1997, Cerf joined the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet University
, a university for the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Cerf himself is, in fact, hard of hearing.
Cerf joined the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) in 1999, and served until the end of 2007.
Cerf is a member of the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov
's IT Advisory Council, a group created by Presidential Decree on March 8, 2002. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Eurasia Group
, the political risk consultancy.
Cerf is also working on the Interplanetary Internet
, together with NASA
's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
. It will be a new standard to communicate from planet to planet, using radio/laser communications that are tolerant of signal degradation.
During February 2006, Cerf testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's Hearing on “Network Neutrality
”. Speaking as Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, Cerf blamed the anticompetitive intentions and practices of telecommunications conglomerates
like Comcast and Verizon for the fact that nearly half of all consumers lack meaningful choice in broadband providers. Google
made a bid in 2006 to offer free wireless broadband access throughout the city of San Francisco in conjunction with Internet service provider
EarthLink
, Inc. Vertically-integrated telecommunications incumbents like Comcast
and Verizon opposed such efforts on the part of Silicon Valley firms like Google and Intel (which promotes the WiMax
standard) as undermining their revenue in a form of "unfair competition" whereby cities would violate their commitments to offer local monopolies to telecommunications conglomerates. Google currently offers free wi-fi access in its hometown of Mountain View, California
.
Cerf currently serves on the board of advisors of Scientists and Engineers for America
, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government. He also serves on the advisory council of CRDF Global.
Cerf is on the board of trustees of ARIN
, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) of IP addresses for United States, Canada, and part of the Caribbean.
Cerf is on the board of directors of StopBadware
, a non-profit anti-malware organization that Google has supported since its inception as a project at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society
.
Cerf is on the board of advisors of The Hyperwords Company Ltd of the UK, which works to make the web more usefully interactive and which has produced the free Firefox Add-On called 'Hyperwords
'.
During 2008 Cerf chaired the IDNAbis
working group of the IETF.
Cerf was a major contender to be designated the nation's first Chief Technology Officer
by President Barack Obama
.
Cerf is the co-chair of Campus Party Silicon Valley
, the US edition of one of the largest technology festivals in the world, along with Al Gore
and Tim Berners-Lee
.
Cerf has received a number of honorary degrees, including doctorates, from the University of the Balearic Islands
, ETH
in Switzerland
, Capitol College
, Gettysburg College
, George Mason University
, Marymount University
, University of Pisa
, University of Rovira and Virgili (Tarragona
, Spain
), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
, Luleå University of Technology
(Sweden
), University of Twente (Netherlands
), Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
, Brooklyn Polytechnic, UPCT (University of Cartagena, Spain
), Royal Roads University (Canada) and Polytechnic University of Madrid.
Further awards include:
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, who is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet
History of the Internet
The history of the Internet starts in the 1950s and 1960s with the development of computers. This began with point-to-point communication between mainframe computers and terminals, expanded to point-to-point connections between computers and then early research into packet switching...
", sharing this title with American computer scientist Bob Kahn
Bob Kahn
Robert Elliot Kahn is an American Internet pioneer, engineer and computer scientist, who, along with Vinton G. Cerf, invented the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol , the fundamental communication protocols at the heart of the Internet.-Career:After receiving a B.E.E...
. His contributions have been acknowledged and lauded, repeatedly, with honorary degrees and awards that include the National Medal of Technology
National Medal of Technology
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
, the Turing Award
Turing Award
The Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...
, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
, and membership in the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
.
In the early days, Cerf was a program manager for the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funding various groups to develop TCP/IP technology. When the Internet began to transition to a commercial opportunity during the late 1980s, Cerf moved to MCI
MCI Communications
MCI Communications Corp. was an American telecommunications company that was instrumental in legal and regulatory changes that led to the breakup of the AT&T monopoly of American telephony and ushered in the competitive long-distance telephone industry. It was headquartered in Washington,...
where he was instrumental in the development of the first commercial email system (MCI Mail
MCI Mail
MCI Mail was a commercial email service that was operated by MCI Communications Corp. during the period 1983 - 2003. The service is widely credited with being the first commercial email service in the United States.-History:...
) connected to the Internet.
Vinton Cerf was instrumental in the funding and formation of ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
from the start. Cerf waited in the wings for a year before he stepped forward to join the ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
Board. Eventually he became the Chairman of ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
.
In 1992 he co-founded, with Bob Kahn
Bob Kahn
Robert Elliot Kahn is an American Internet pioneer, engineer and computer scientist, who, along with Vinton G. Cerf, invented the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol , the fundamental communication protocols at the heart of the Internet.-Career:After receiving a B.E.E...
the Internet Society
Internet Society
The Internet Society or ISOC is an international, nonprofit organization founded during 1992 to provide direction in Internet related standards, education, and policy...
to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education and policy.
Cerf has worked for Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
as its Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
and Chief Internet Evangelist
Technology evangelist
A technical or technology evangelist is a person who attempts to build a critical mass of support for a given technology in order to establish it as a technical standard in a market that is subject to network effects...
since September 2005. In this function he has become well known for his predictions on how technology will affect future society, encompassing such areas as artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, the advent of IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
and the transformation of the television industry and its delivery model.
Cerf also went to the same high school as Jon Postel
Jon Postel
Jonathan Bruce Postel was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards...
and Steve Crocker
Steve Crocker
Stephen D. Crocker is the inventor of the Request for Comments series, authoring the very first RFC and many more. He received his bachelor's degree and PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Crocker is chair of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers,...
; he wrote the former's obituary. Both were also instrumental in the creation of the Internet as we know it (see articles).
Since 2010, Cerf has served as a Commissioner for the Broadband Commission for Digital Development
Broadband Commission for Digital Development
The Broadband Commission for Digital Development was established in May 2010 as a joint initiative by the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...
, a UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
body which aims to make broadband internet technologies more widely available.
Life and career
Cerf was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Muriel (née Gray), a homemaker, and Vinton Thurston Cerf, an aerospace executive. Cerf's first job after obtaining his B.S.Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in Mathematics from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
was at IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, where he worked for less than two years as a systems engineer supporting QUIKTRAN
QUIKTRAN
QUIKTRAN is a Fortran-like, interactive programming language with debugging facilities.-External links:*...
. He left IBM to attend graduate school at UCLA where he earned his M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree in 1970 and his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in 1972. During his graduate student years, he studied under Professor Gerald Estrin
Gerald Estrin
Prof. Gerald Estrin, an IEEE Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Estrin received his B.S, M.S. and Ph.D...
, worked in Professor Leonard Kleinrock
Leonard Kleinrock
Leonard Kleinrock is an American engineer and computer scientist. A computer science professor at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, he made several important contributions to the field of computer networking, in particular to the theoretical side of computer networking...
's data packet networking group that connected the first two nodes of the ARPANet
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
, the predecessor to the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, and "contributed to a host-to-host protocol" for the ARPANet. While at UCLA, he also met Robert E. Kahn, who was working on the ARPANet
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
hardware architecture. After receiving his doctorate, Cerf became an assistant professor at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
from 1972–1976, where he conducted research on packet network interconnection protocols and co-designed the DoD TCP/IP protocol suite with Kahn.
As vice president of MCI Digital Information Services from 1982–1986, Cerf led the engineering of MCI Mail
MCI Mail
MCI Mail was a commercial email service that was operated by MCI Communications Corp. during the period 1983 - 2003. The service is widely credited with being the first commercial email service in the United States.-History:...
, the first commercial email service to be connected to the Internet. Cerf rejoined MCI during 1994 and served as Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy. In this role, he helped to guide corporate strategy development from a technical perspective. Previously, he served as MCI's senior vice president of Architecture and Technology, leading a team of architects and engineers to design advanced networking frameworks, including Internet-based solutions for delivering a combination of data, information, voice and video services for business and consumer use.
During 1997, Cerf joined the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
, a university for the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Cerf himself is, in fact, hard of hearing.
Cerf joined the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
(ICANN) in 1999, and served until the end of 2007.
Cerf is a member of the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov is a President of Bulgaria, whose second and last mandate expires on January 22, 2012; he was elected after defeating his predecessor Petar Stoyanov in the second round of the presidential elections in November 2001 and he came into office on January 22, 2002...
's IT Advisory Council, a group created by Presidential Decree on March 8, 2002. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Eurasia Group
Eurasia Group
-Overview:Eurasia Group is best known as the world's largest political risk consultancy with offices in New York, Washington, London, and Tokyo and more than 125 full-time employees...
, the political risk consultancy.
Cerf is also working on the Interplanetary Internet
Interplanetary Internet
The Interplanetary Internet is a conceived computer network in space, consisting of a set of network nodes which can communicate with each other. Communication would be greatly delayed by the great interplanetary distances, so the IPN needs a new set of protocols and technology that are tolerant...
, together with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
. It will be a new standard to communicate from planet to planet, using radio/laser communications that are tolerant of signal degradation.
During February 2006, Cerf testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's Hearing on “Network Neutrality
Network neutrality
Network neutrality is a principle that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the Internet...
”. Speaking as Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, Cerf blamed the anticompetitive intentions and practices of telecommunications conglomerates
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
like Comcast and Verizon for the fact that nearly half of all consumers lack meaningful choice in broadband providers. Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
made a bid in 2006 to offer free wireless broadband access throughout the city of San Francisco in conjunction with Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
EarthLink
EarthLink
EarthLink , is an Internet service provider headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It claims 1.94 million subscribers.- Business :EarthLink provides a variety of Internet connection types, including dial-up, DSL, satellite, and cable. Both dial-up and high speed Internet access are available...
, Inc. Vertically-integrated telecommunications incumbents like Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and Verizon opposed such efforts on the part of Silicon Valley firms like Google and Intel (which promotes the WiMax
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
standard) as undermining their revenue in a form of "unfair competition" whereby cities would violate their commitments to offer local monopolies to telecommunications conglomerates. Google currently offers free wi-fi access in its hometown of Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
.
Cerf currently serves on the board of advisors of Scientists and Engineers for America
Scientists and Engineers for America
-Mission statement:The organization's mission statement states:-SHARP Network:The Science, Health and Related Policies Network is a wiki to track congressional representatives, senators, and candidates as well as presidential candidates....
, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government. He also serves on the advisory council of CRDF Global.
Cerf is on the board of trustees of ARIN
Arin
Arin may refer to:* American Registry for Internet Numbers* Arin, Armenia - A town in Armenia* Arin language - An extinct Yeniseic language* Arın Soğancıoğlu, Turkish basketball player...
, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) of IP addresses for United States, Canada, and part of the Caribbean.
Cerf is on the board of directors of StopBadware
Stopbadware
StopBadware is a consumer-oriented nonprofit organization aimed at fighting malicious software, or "badware". It is the successor to StopBadware.org, a project started in 2006 at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. It spun off to become a standalone organization, and...
, a non-profit anti-malware organization that Google has supported since its inception as a project at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of...
.
Cerf is on the board of advisors of The Hyperwords Company Ltd of the UK, which works to make the web more usefully interactive and which has produced the free Firefox Add-On called 'Hyperwords
Hyperwords
Hyperwords was a term for interactive text. Whereas hyper-links have the specific meaning of words which are linked to specific destinations, hyperwords refers to all interactive words where the idea is that the reader can issue commands on the text...
'.
During 2008 Cerf chaired the IDNAbis
Internationalized domain name
An internationalized domain name is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label that is displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in a language-specific script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi or the Latin alphabet-based characters with diacritics,...
working group of the IETF.
Cerf was a major contender to be designated the nation's first Chief Technology Officer
Chief Technology Officer of the United States
The Chief Technology Officer of the United States , formally known as the Assistant to the President, Associate Director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy is a position created within the Office of Science and Technology Policy by President Barack Obama...
by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
Cerf is the co-chair of Campus Party Silicon Valley
Campus Party
Campus Party is an annual week-long, 24 hour a day technology festival and LAN Party. Thousands of hackers, developers, gamers and geeks equipped with laptops camp out in tents on-site for the conference and hackathon....
, the US edition of one of the largest technology festivals in the world, along with Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
and Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, , also known as "TimBL", is a British computer scientist, MIT professor and the inventor of the World Wide Web...
.
Awards and honors
University of the Balearic Islands
The University of the Balearic Islands is a Balearic Spanish university, founded in 1978 and located in Palma on the island of Majorca.-History:...
, ETH
Eth
Eth is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese , and Elfdalian. It was also used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, but was subsequently replaced with dh and later d. The capital eth resembles a D with a line through the vertical stroke...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Capitol College
Capitol College
Capitol College is a private, non-profit, and non-sectarian college located just south of Laurel, Maryland, in unincorporated Prince George's County. It was founded in 1927 as the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute, changed its name to the Capitol Institute of Technology in 1964, and assumed its...
, Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College is a private four-year liberal arts college founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has about 2,700 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women...
, George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, Marymount University
Marymount University
Marymount University is a coeducational, four-year Catholic university that has its main campus located in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in a wide range of disciplines and has a diverse and welcoming academic community with approximately 3,600...
, University of Pisa
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa , located in Pisa, Tuscany, is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century...
, University of Rovira and Virgili (Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
, Luleå University of Technology
Luleå University of Technology
Luleå University of Technology or Luleå tekniska universitet of Sweden is Scandinavia's northernmost university of technology. It has four campuses, located in Luleå , Kiruna , Skellefteå and Piteå .-History:The university was founded on 1 June 1971 at Porsön in Luleå as...
(Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
), University of Twente (Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
), Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
The Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications was founded as The Beijing Institute of Posts and Telecommunications in 1955. It was created under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Communications Department of the General Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army...
, Brooklyn Polytechnic, UPCT (University of Cartagena, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
), Royal Roads University (Canada) and Polytechnic University of Madrid.
Further awards include:
- Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year Award from UCLA
- Prince of Asturias awardPrince of Asturias AwardsThe Prince of Asturias Awards are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Prince of Asturias Foundation to individuals, entities or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs....
for science and technology - Fellow of the IEEE, 1988, "for contributions and leadership in the design, development, and application of internet protocols"
- Fellow of the Association for Computing MachineryAssociation for Computing MachineryThe Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
, 1994, for "vision and leadership in the design, implementation, evolution, and dissemination of the TCP/IP computer communication protocol suite" - Yuri Rubinsky Memorial AwardYuri Rubinsky Memorial AwardThe "Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award" was a prize that was awarded annually at the International World Wide Web Conference. Yuri Rubinsky, in cooperation with the International WWW Conference Committee, presented the SoftQuad Award for Excellence to Doug Engelbart at the Fourth International WWW...
, 1996 - SIGCOMM AwardSIGCOMM AwardThe SIGCOMM Award recognizes lifetime contribution to the field of communication networks.The award is presented in the annual SIGCOMM Technical Conference.The awardees are:* 2011 Vern Paxson* 2010 Radia Perlman* 2009 Jon Crowcroft* 2008 Don Towsley...
for "contributions to the Internet [spanning] more than 25 years, from development of the fundamental TCP/IP protocols". - Certificate of Merit from The Franklin Institute, in 1996.
- In December 1997 he, along with his partner Robert E. Kahn, was presented with the National Medal of TechnologyNational Medal of TechnologyThe National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
by President Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, "for creating and sustaining development of Internet Protocols and continuing to provide leadership in the emerging industry of internetworking." - He received the Living Legend Medal from the Library of Congress in April 2000
- He was inducted as a Fellow of the Computer History MuseumComputer History MuseumThe Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
in November 2000 - Cerf was selected as a Fellow of the Association for Women in ScienceAssociation for Women in ScienceThe Association for Women in Science is a national advocacy organization championing the interests of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics across all disciplines and employment sectors.-History:...
(AWIS) in 2000 - Cerf and Kahn were the winners of the Turing AwardTuring AwardThe Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...
for 2004, for their "pioneering work on internetworkingInternetworkingInternetworking is the practice of connecting a computer network with other networks through the use of gateways that provide a common method of routing information packets between the networks...
, including .. the Internet's basic communications protocols .. and for inspired leadership in networking." - In November 2005, Vinton Cerf and Kahn were awarded the Presidential Medal of FreedomPresidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
by President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
for their contributions to the creation of the Internet. - He and Robert Kahn were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of FameNational Inventors Hall of FameThe National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
in May 2006 - Vinton Cerf was awarded the St. Cyril and Methodius in the Coat of Arms Order in July 2006
- Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn were each inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Technical CommunicationSociety for Technical CommunicationThe Society for Technical Communication is a professional society for the advancement of the theory and practice of technical communication.-Overview:...
(STC) in May 2006 - He and Robert Kahn were awarded the Japan PrizeJapan Prizeis awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind."- Explanation :...
in January 2008. - Cerf was inducted into the Worshipful Company of Information TechnologistsWorshipful Company of Information TechnologistsThe Worshipful Company of Information Technologists , aka the Information Technologists' Company , is the 100th Livery Company of the City of London...
and given the Freedom of the CityFreedom of the CityFreedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of London in April 2008. - Dr. Cerf was awarded an honorary membership in the Yale Political UnionYale Political UnionThe Yale Political Union , a debate society now the largest student organization at Yale University, was founded in 1934 by Professor Alfred Whitney Griswold , to enliven the university's political culture of the time. It was modelled on the Cambridge Union Society and Oxford Union...
after keynoting a lively debate on the subject "Resolved: Online Communities are Real Communities." The motion passed. - In celebration of the five year-anniversary of YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
he was selected as a guest curatorCuratorA curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
by the site, and chose the six videos on Youtube he found most memorable. - In May 2011, he was awarded an HPIHasso Plattner InstituteThe Hasso Plattner Institute ', or HPI, is a German information technology college, affiliated to the University of Potsdam and located in Potsdam-Babelsberg near Berlin. It was founded in 1998 and is the first, and still the only, entirely privately-funded college in Germany...
Fellowship as “[…]a tribute to his work for a new medium which influenced the everyday life of our society like no other one.” - In September 2011 he was made a distinguished fellow of British Computer SocietyBritish Computer SocietyThe British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...
, in recognition of his outstanding contribution and service to the advancement of computing.
Partial bibliography
Author
- Zero Text Length EOF Message (RFC 13, August 1969)
- IMP-IMP and HOST-HOST Control Links (RFC 18, September 1969)
- ASCII format for network interchange (RFC 20, October 1969)
- Host-host control message formats (RFC 22, October 1969)
- Data transfer protocols (RFC 163, May 1971)
- PARRY encounters the DOCTOR (RFC 439, January 1973)
- 'Twas the night before start-up (RFC 968, December 1985)
- Report of the second Ad Hoc Network Management Review Group, RFC 1109, August 1989
- Internet Activities Board, RFC 1120, September 1989
- Thoughts on the National Research and Education Network, RFC 1167, July 1990
- Networks, Scientific American Special Issue on Communications, Computers, and Networks, September, 1991
- Guidelines for Internet Measurement Activities, October 1991
- A VIEW FROM THE 21ST CENTURY, RFC 1607, April 1, 1994
- An Agreement between the Internet Society and Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the Matter of ONC RPC and XDR Protocols, RFC 1790, April 1995
- I REMEMBER IANA, RFC 2468, October 17, 1998
- Memo from the Consortium for Slow Commotion Research (CSCR, RFC 1217, April 1, 1999
- The Internet is for Everyone, RFC 3271, April 2002
Co-author
- Vinton Cerf, Robert Kahn, A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication (IEEE Transactions on Communications, May 1974)
- Vinton Cerf, Y. Dalal, C. Sunshine, Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program (RFC 675, December 1974)
- Vinton Cerf, Jon PostelJon PostelJonathan Bruce Postel was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards...
, Mail transition plan (RFC 771, September 1980) - Vinton Cerf, K.L. Mills Explaining the role of GOSIP, RFC 1169, August 1990
- Clark, Chapin, Cerf, Braden, Hobby, Towards the Future Internet Architecture, RFC 1287, December 1991
- Vinton Cerf et al., A Strategic Plan for Deploying an Internet X.500 Directory Service, RFC 1430, February 1993
- Vinton Cerf & Bob KahnBob KahnRobert Elliot Kahn is an American Internet pioneer, engineer and computer scientist, who, along with Vinton G. Cerf, invented the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol , the fundamental communication protocols at the heart of the Internet.-Career:After receiving a B.E.E...
, Al Gore and the Internet, 2000-09-28 - Vinton Cerf et al., Internet Radio Communication System July 9, 2002, U.S. Patent 6,418,138
- Vinton Cerf et al., System for Distributed Task Execution June 3, 2003, U.S. Patent 6,574,628
- Vinton Cerf et al., Delay-Tolerant Networking Architecture (Informational Status), RFC 4838, April 2007
External links
- A Protocol For Packet Network Intercommunication The IEEE paper Cerf co-wrote with Bob Kahn that describes TCP.
- Oral history interview with Vinton G. Cerf. Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Cerf describes his involvement with the ARPA network, including his work for the Network Measurement Center at UCLA, and his relationships with Bolt Beranek and Newman, Robert Kahn, Lawrence Roberts, and the Network Working Group. Aso discusses development of the TCP/IP protocol, IPTO funding at Stanford University, his decision in 1976 to become a program manager for networking projects at IPTO, and the military use of IPTO networking projects. - Vint Cerf video lecture "Mobile and the Interplanetary Internet (Bundle Protocol on Earth and beyond)" at Aarhus University, Denmark
- Vint Cerf video lecture "The Internet in 2035"
- Vint Cerf video interview on the evolution of the Internet
- Vint Cerf audio interview on The History of the Internet: Part I - Past - 16 minutes. Precursors & origins of the Internet
- Vint Cerf audio interview on The History of the Internet: Part II - Present - 18 minutes. Internet Neutrality, Cloud Computing, Open Source / Collaboration
- Vint Cerf audio interview on The History of the Internet: Part III - Future - 12 minutes. NASA's Interplanetary Internet, Speech & Gestural Interfaces, Quantum Entanglement
- Internet Pioneers - Vint Cerf
- ICANNWiki on Vint Cerf
- Vint Cerf on "Freedom of the Internet", 45 mins., official web stream of presentation for Hungarian "TV University", March 2007
- DeafLife features on Vint Cerf, November 1997
- Vint Cerf lecture "Tracking the Internet into the 21st Century" for the Worshipful Company of Information TechnologistsWorshipful Company of Information TechnologistsThe Worshipful Company of Information Technologists , aka the Information Technologists' Company , is the 100th Livery Company of the City of London...
at City University London in April 2008. - Vint Cerf on the future of the internet
- Vinton Cerf on IPv6IPv6Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
, video keynote for the German IPv6 summit 2008 - Vinton Cerf Headline PTC's PTC'09 Conference January 2009. Video:Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
- One hour radio interview about Google and the future of the internet on Entitled OpinionsEntitled OpinionsEntitled Opinions is a literary talk show hosted by Robert P. Harrison, a professor of French and Italian at Stanford University. The show is also available as a podcast. Topics range broadly on issues related to literature, ideas, and lived experience...
with Robert P. HarrisonRobert P. HarrisonRobert P. Harrison is the Rosina Pierotti Chair of Italian Literature at Stanford University.He was born in Izmir, Turkey, and raised in Rome. He is the host of the podcast Entitled Opinions . He plays lead guitar for the cerebral rock band Glass Wave.- External links :* * *... - Archive of 'Cerf's Up' webpages while at MCI, Inc..
- Keynote Speaker at Internet Librarian 2009, October 2009
- Tracking the Internet into the 21st Century discussion with Larry SmarrLarry SmarrLarry Smarr is a physicist and leader in scientific computing, supercomputer applications, and Internet infrastructure.He received both his BA and MS at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and received a Ph.D...
at University of California San Diego, April 2007 - Video of interview What’s Next with the Internet at Churchill Club, January 2010
- Keeping the Net Healthy discussion with Paul MockapetrisPaul MockapetrisDr. Paul V. Mockapetris is the inventor of the Domain Name System.In 1983, he proposed a Domain Name System architecture in RFCs 882 and 883 while at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California....
, Esther DysonEsther DysonEsther Dyson is a former journalist and Wall Street technology analyst who is a leading angel investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and commentator focused on breakthrough innovation in healthcare, government transparency, digital technology, biotechnology, and space...
, and Bruce McConnell at The Commonwealth ClubThe Commonwealth ClubThis article concerns the historic Virginia building. For other places called "Commonwealth Club", see Commonwealth Club.The Commonwealth Club, is a private gentlemen's club in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Its present clubhouse was completed in 1891. The defining structure of the Commonwealth Club...
, October 2010