Vinton Cerf: Difference between revisions

'''Vinton G.''' ('''Vint''') '''Cerf'''  is a computer scientist and widely recognized as one of the "Fathers of the Internet."" He was one of the inventors of the internet architecture and co-designer of the basic protocols ([[TCP/IP]]) along with [[Robert Kahn]]. He serves as vice president and chief internet evangelist for [[Google]] and his primary responsibility is to identify new enabling technologies to support the development of advanced internet-based products and services of the company.<ref>[http://www.mondostars.com/business/vintoncerf.html mondostars]</ref> <ref>[http://www.persona.rin.ru/eng/view/f/0/18040/vinton-cerf-vinton-cerf Persona]</ref> <ref>[http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_cerf.htm Living Internet]</ref> He is currently involved in the Interplanetary Internet Project.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/tech/web/icann/ ICANN, CNN.com]</ref>

His personal interests include fine wine, gourmet cooking and science fiction. Cerf and his wife, Sigrid, were married in 1966 and have two sons, David and Bennett.  

Cerf received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Stanford University and Master of Science and doctorate degrees in Computer Science from UCLA. He also holds honorary Doctorate degrees from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich; Lulea University of Technology, Sweden; University of the Balearic Islands, Palma; Capitol College, Maryland; Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania; George Mason University, Virginia; Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York; the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands; Brooklyn Polytechnic; and the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. <ref>[http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=533508&ticker=GOOG:US Vinton G. Cerf Ph.D.-Executive Profile]</ref>

===Early Careers: From IBM to UCLA===

After receiving his degree in Mathematics at Stanford University in 1965, Vint joined [[IBM]] as systems engineer on the QUIKTRAN time-sharing system project. In 1966, he started providing computer communications consultancy services for different companies and organizations including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ([[DARPA]]), Defense Information Systems Agency ([[DISA]]), [[MCI]] Communications Corp., National Security Agency, [[IEEE]] etc. He left IBM in 1967 and joined the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Computer Science Department as principal programmer. Vint managed several projects at UCLA such as the [[ARPANET]] Network Measurement Center, a video graphics project involving computer-controlled 16 mm camera. He also participated in the development of the ARPANET host protocol specifications. He left UCLA in 1972.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/cerf-testimony-08feb01-en.htm#Vita Vinton Cerf Curriculum Vitae]</ref>  

From UCLA, Cerf moved to Stanford University's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department as assistant professor. He taught classes in operating systems, algorithms & data structures as well as networking. During his tenure at the university, he also conducted research on packet network interconnection protocols and joined [[Robert Kahn]] as principal investigator and co-designer of the next generation networking protocol project for the [[ARPANET]]. In 1973, they distributed the draft of the paper entitled: "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication" during the INWG special meeting at Sussex University in 1973 and eventually published the final research IEEE Transactions of Communications Technology 1974. Cerf and Kahn successfully designed the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ([[TCP/IP]]).<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/cerf-testimony-08feb01-en.htm#Vita Vinton Cerf Curriculum Vitae]</ref> <ref>[http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_cerf.htmVinton Cerf -- TCP/IP Co-Designer]</ref> He also volunteered to serve as Chairman of the International Network Working Group ([[INWG]]) modeled from the ARPANET's Network Working Group. Its main objective is to develop common technical standards that would allow any computer to connect to the ARPANET.<ref>[http://alexmckenzie.weebly.com/inwg-and-the-conception-of-the-internet-an-eyewitness-account.html INWG and the Conception of the Internet: An Eyewitness Account]</ref>  Vint ended his teaching career at Stanford in 1976.

In 1976, Cerf  accepted the position offered by DARPA to serve as program manager. He later became a principal scientist of the agency. At DARPA, he continued working with Khan on networking and TCP/IP protocols. They demonstrated how the internet works through the ARPANET, Packet Radio net and SATNET. They sent messages from a van in the bay area across the United States on ARPANET to the University College of London and back via satellite to Virginia through the ARPANET located at the  University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute to prove the viability of the TCP/IP protocol to connect networks worldwide. In 1983, the TCP/IP protocol became the standard protocol for the ARPANET, which became the internet. During his tenure at the agency from 1976 to 1982, Cerf indeed played a key role leading the development of the internet including internet related data packet and security technologies. <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history/internet_history_70s.html Computer History Museum]</ref> <ref>[http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/cerf.htm Vinton Cerf TCP/IP Protocol]</ref>

From 1982-1986, he served as vice president of the Digital Information Services of [[MCI]] until 1986. During his work in the company, he led a team of engineers responsible in development and implementation of the MCI mail, which became the first commercial e-mail service connected to the internet. In 1994, he rejoined MCI as Senior Vice President of Data Architecture responsible in the architectural design of the company's data and information services. He later became the company's Senior Vice President for Internet Architecture and Engineering responsible in leading a team of architects and engineers in designing advanced networking, internet systems and security applications. He spearheaded the technology that combined voice,data and internet. He resigned as Senior Vice President for Technology Strategy of the company in 2005 to serve as [[Google]]'s as chief internet evangelist.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/cerf-testimony-08feb01-en.htm#Vita Vinton Cerf Curriculum Vitae]</ref> <ref>

Since 2005, Cerf serves as Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. He is responsible in helping the company to build network infrastructure, architectures, systems and standards for the next generation internet applications. He also serves as the company's representative to the global internet community on different issues.<ref>[http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/vintcerf.html Cerf’s up at Google]</ref> <ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/cerf.htm Vinton G. Cerf | Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist]</ref>

Vinton Cerf served as chairman of the board of [[ICANN]] from 2000 to 2007.<ref>[http://www.atlarge.icann.org/naralo/san-francisco-outreach/keynote.htm Keynote Speaker: Dr. Vinton Cerf]</ref> In 1999, he was a member of the [[ICANN Board]] of Directors selected by the Protocol Supporting Organization ([[PSO]]).<ref>

[http://archive.icann.org/en/general/new-director-bios-28oct99.htm Directors Named by Protocol Supporting Organization (PSO)]</ref> He was selected by the Nominating Committee ([[NomCom]]) to seat in the Board of Directors from 2003 to 2004.<ref>

[http://www.icannwatch.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/16/1750242 Nomcom Stacks Board With Insiders (plus Corporate Executives)]</ref> During his term as chairman, he led the internet governing body in the introduction and promotion of retail competition in the registration of domain names, development and implementation of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy ([[UDRP]]), expansion of new generic top level domain names ([[gTLD]]s) in 2000 and 2003, implementation of Internationalized Domain Names ([[IDN]]s) among others. <ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/cerf-testimony-08feb01-en.htm#Vita Testimony of Vint Cerf Before U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce]</ref> <ref>

In November, 2011, Vint said that he was "nervous" regarding ICANN's new gTLD expansion program which was set to proceed in a matter of months. Some of his concerns include the confusion created for end users, potential problems for trademark owners and possible logistical issues especially with regards to any new gTLD operators going out of business. Cerf added that it seemed too late for any outside intervention to the program. It is Important to closely monitor the gTLD expansion process and fix issues as they arise.<ref>[http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2011/11/former-icann-chairs-voice-conc.php Fomer ICANN Chair Voice Concern, TechDailyDose.NationalJournal.com]</ref>

Cerf was the founding president of [[ISOC|Internet Society]] from 1992 to 1995. In 1999, he was appointed  chairman of the board until 2001. After his chairmanship, he continued to serve the organization as member of the member of the Internet Societal Task Force and in the steering group dedicated in evaluating local, national and international internet policies to ensure that global accessibility of the internet for everyone. He also serve as honorary chairman of the [[IPv6 Forum]], which is dedicated in increasing the awareness and speedy implementation of the new internet protocol.<ref>[http://www.internetsociety.org/who-we-are/people/vint-cerf Vint Cerf Board of Trustees 1992-2001]</ref>

Vinton Cerf is a recipient of numerous awards and commendations in connection with his work on the Internet. These include the Marconi Fellowship, Charles Stark Draper award of the National Academy of Engineering, the Prince of Asturias award for science and technology, the National Medal of Science from Tunisia, the Alexander Graham Bell Award presented by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, the NEC Computer and Communications Prize, the Silver Medal of the International Telecommunications Union, the [[IEEE]] Alexander Graham Bell Medal <ref>[http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/medals/bell.html#sect3 IEEE]</ref>, the [[IEEE]] Koji Kobayashi Award, the [[ACM]] Software and Systems Award, the [[ACM]] SIGCOMM Award, the Computer and Communications Industries Association Industry Legend Award, the Yuri Rubinsky Web Award, the Kilby Award , the Yankee Group/Interop/Network World Lifetime Achievement Award, the George R. Stibitz Award, the Werner Wolter Award, the Andrew Saks Engineering Award, the [[IEEE]] Third Millennium Medal, the Computerworld/Smithsonian Leadership Award, the J.D. Edwards Leadership Award for Collaboration, World Institute on Disability Annual award and the Library of Congress Bicentennial Living Legend medal.

In December 1997, President Clinton presented the U.S. National Medal of Technology to Cerf and his partner, [[Robert Kahn]], for founding and developing the Internet. <ref>[http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051109-10.html THE WHITE HOUSE]</ref>. Kahn and Cerf were named the recipients of the ACM Alan M. Turing award in 2004 for their work on the Internet protocols. The Turing award is sometimes called the "Nobel Prize of Computer Science". <ref>[http://awards.acm.org/homepage.cfm?srt=all&awd=140 ACM.org]</ref>

In December, 2011, Vint Cerf signed onto an open letter to the U.S. Congress sent by the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] that urged the legislature not to pass [[SOPA]] bills, which he and the 82 other signees believed would seriously hinder the future of the Internet, U.S. legitimacy with regards to Internet stewardship, and many industries tied together through the Internet, among other deleterious effects.<ref>[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/12/internet-inventors-warn-against-sopa-and-pipa Internet Inventors Warn Against SOPA and PIPA, EFF.org]</ref>

Dr. Cerf also served as a technical advisor to production for "Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict" <ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0148576/ IMDB]</ref>and made a special guest appearance on the program in May 1998. He appeared on the television programs NextWave with Leonard Nimoy and on World Business Review with Alexander Haig and Caspar Weinberger. He is a distinguished visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on the design of the interplanetary Internet.

* Vint Cerf, Van Jacobson, Nicholas Weaver, Jim Gettys: BufferBloat: What's Wrong with the Internet? ACM Queue (QUEUE) 9(12):10 (2012)

* Vinton G. Cerf: Emergent Properties, Human Rights, and the Internet. IEEE Internet Computing (INTERNET) 16(2):87-88 (2012)

* Vinton G. Cerf: Defense against the Dark Arts. IEEE Internet Computing (INTERNET) 16(1):96 (2012)

* Thomas A. Limoncelli, Vinton G. Cerf: Successful Strategies for IPv6 Rollouts. Really. ACM Queue (QUEUE) 9(3):20 (2011)

* Vinton G. Cerf: Secure Identities. IEEE Internet Computing (INTERNET) 15(4):96 (2011)

* Vinton G. Cerf: Taking internet's temperature: prescriptions for the 21st century. JCDL 2004:1

* Vinton G. Cerf: Requirements for the Internet. RE 2003:3-4

* Vinton G. Cerf: Digital Government and the Internet. DG.O 2002

* Robert E. Kahn and Vinton G. Cerf, "What Is The Internet (And What Makes It Work)", Internet Policy  

Institute, December 1999

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