Vint Cerf (person) (Vinton G. Cerf) The co-inventor with Bob Kahn of the Internet and its base protocol, TCP/IP. Like Jon Postel, he was crucial in the development of many higher-level protocols, and has written several dozen RFCs since the late 1960s.
Vinton Cerf is senior vice president of Internet Architecture and Technology for MCI WorldCom. His team of architects and engineers design advanced Internet frameworks for delivering a combination of data, information, voice and video services for business and consumer use. In December 1997, President Clinton presented the U.S. National Medal of Technology to Cerf and his partner, Robert E. Kahn, for founding and developing the Internet. Prior to rejoining MCI in 1994, Cerf was vice president of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI). As vice president of MCI Digital Information Services from 1982-1986, he led the engineering of MCI Mail, the first commercial e-mail service to be connected to the Internet. During his tenure from 1976-1982 with the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Cerf played a key role leading the development of Internet and Internet-related data packet and security technologies. Cerf served as founding president of the Internet Society from 1992-1995 and is currently chairman of the Board. Cerf is a member of the U.S. Presidential Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) and the Advisory Committee for Telecommunications (ACT) in Ireland. Cerf is a recipient of numerous awards and commendations in connection with his work on the Internet. In December 1994, People magazine identified Cerf as one of that year's "25 Most Intriguing People." In addition to his work on behalf of MCI and the Internet, Cerf serves as technical advisor to production for "Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict," the number one television show in first-run syndication. He also made a special guest appearance in May 1998. Cerf also holds an appointment as distinguished visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he is working on the design of an interplanetary Internet. Cerf holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Stanford University and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from UCLA. He also holds honorary Doctorate degrees from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich; Lulea University of Technology, Sweden; University of the Balearic Islands, Palma; Capitol College and Gettysburg College. http://mci.com/cerfsup/. Last updated: 1999-02-25
