One question that many people have asked since the 1990s is, “Who created the Internet?” For some people, it may quickly jump out at them as “Bill Gates” or “Steve Jobs.” The correct answer is under debate, as multiple people created the Internet. Yet the Internet is not exactly what comes to mind; it is just the protocol in ensuring transfer of information between networks. For example, today the Internet is what would allow someone with XFinity Comcast to email someone with AT&T or CenturyLink. This is because all of these companies follow the TCP (Transfer Control Protocol) and IP (Internetworking Protocol). Some would argue that Joseph Carl Roberts Licklider created the Internet. However, he created time-sharing, and the person who created TCP and IP is Vinton “Vint” Cerf.
Cerf in 2011.
Cerf was born in New Haven, Connecticut on June 23, 1943. He was raised in Connecticut until he began attending Stanford in Fall 1961. In 1965, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in science at Stanford. He went to graduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). While there, he received a Master’s Degree and Ph.D, both in computer science, in 1970 and 1972, respectively. While at UCLA, he joined the Networking Club that worked under Leonard Kleinrock on the ARPANET, the Internet’s precursor. He watched the first ARPANET node get moved into UCLA’s computer room. This was not only when he became first interested in the Internet, but also when he met his future colleague Bob Kahn.
Cerf was born in New Haven, Connecticut on June 23, 1943. He was raised in Connecticut until he began attending Stanford in Fall 1961. In 1965, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in science at Stanford. He went to graduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). While there, he received a Master’s Degree and Ph.D, both in computer science, in 1970 and 1972, respectively. While at UCLA, he joined the Networking Club that worked under Leonard Kleinrock on the ARPANET, the Internet’s precursor. He watched the first ARPANET node get moved into UCLA’s computer room. This was not only when he became first interested in the Internet, but also when he met his future colleague Bob Kahn.
The UCLA ARPANET node.
In Spring 1973, Kahn was hired for IPTO, the Information Processing Technique Office, a subdivision of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. He worked in the Pentagon, as DARPA was a subdivision of the US Defense Department. There, he was presented with a problem: he wanted to connect DARPA's radio and satellite networks to the ARPANET. They were all incompatible with each other. He approached Cerf and they developed the Transfer Control Protocol that is still used today. This was first demonstrated at a seminar in which they invited networkers from all over the globe. The next year, Cerf and Kahn published A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication on May 5, 1974.
In Spring 1973, Kahn was hired for IPTO, the Information Processing Technique Office, a subdivision of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. He worked in the Pentagon, as DARPA was a subdivision of the US Defense Department. There, he was presented with a problem: he wanted to connect DARPA's radio and satellite networks to the ARPANET. They were all incompatible with each other. He approached Cerf and they developed the Transfer Control Protocol that is still used today. This was first demonstrated at a seminar in which they invited networkers from all over the globe. The next year, Cerf and Kahn published A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication on May 5, 1974.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was renamed to include the word "Defense" in 1972.
In 1976, Cerf moved to Washington, DC to work for DARPA as a program manager for networking. He worked there until 1982, when he left DARPA to work for MCI as their Vice President. In 1983, MCI launched the first commercial email network. Three years after MCI Mail was launched, Cerf left MCI to work with Bob Kahn again as the Vice President of CNRI (Corporation for National Research Initiatives). In 1991, Cerf cofounded the ISOC, or Internet Society, with Kahn, and was its Vice President from 1992 until 1994. At that time, Cerf returned to MCI as Senior Vice President until 2005, when Verizon acquired MCI for $7.6 billion. Since 2005, Cerf has served as Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google. Cerf has constantly relocated around the United States, having been the Vice President of four different companies in his 73-year lifetime.
In 1976, Cerf moved to Washington, DC to work for DARPA as a program manager for networking. He worked there until 1982, when he left DARPA to work for MCI as their Vice President. In 1983, MCI launched the first commercial email network. Three years after MCI Mail was launched, Cerf left MCI to work with Bob Kahn again as the Vice President of CNRI (Corporation for National Research Initiatives). In 1991, Cerf cofounded the ISOC, or Internet Society, with Kahn, and was its Vice President from 1992 until 1994. At that time, Cerf returned to MCI as Senior Vice President until 2005, when Verizon acquired MCI for $7.6 billion. Since 2005, Cerf has served as Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google. Cerf has constantly relocated around the United States, having been the Vice President of four different companies in his 73-year lifetime.
The companies Cerf has worked at since 1982.
Vint Cerf has received many awards for his work. His first major recognition was in 1994 when People’s Magazine named him one of “The Year’s 25 Most Intriguing People.” In 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded Cerf and Kahn the National Medal of Technology for their creation of the Internet. In 2004, both received the Alan M. Turing award, known amongst computer scientists as “The Nobel Prize of Computer Science.” Cerf was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush in 2005 and was inducted to the Internet Hall of Fame in 2006. He additionally received the Japan Prize in 2008, the Lifetime Webby Award in 2010, and Lifetime Achievement Award from Oxford in 2011.
Vint Cerf has received many awards for his work. His first major recognition was in 1994 when People’s Magazine named him one of “The Year’s 25 Most Intriguing People.” In 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded Cerf and Kahn the National Medal of Technology for their creation of the Internet. In 2004, both received the Alan M. Turing award, known amongst computer scientists as “The Nobel Prize of Computer Science.” Cerf was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush in 2005 and was inducted to the Internet Hall of Fame in 2006. He additionally received the Japan Prize in 2008, the Lifetime Webby Award in 2010, and Lifetime Achievement Award from Oxford in 2011.
Cerf is currently the Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google. In 2014, wearing Google Glass, he stated that the Internet “has scaled up a million times over. Not many things can do that without breaking. And yet those old protocols we created are doing just fine.”
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