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Robert E. Kahn is Chairman, CEO and President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives ([[CNRI]]), which he founded in 1986 after a thirteen year term at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ([[DARPA]]). [[CNRI]] was created as a not-for-profit organization to provide leadership and funding for research and development of the National Information Infrastructure.
'''Robert E. Kahn''' is the co-inventor of the [[TCP/IP]] system that established the architectural basis of the Internet. He worked with [[Vinton Cerf]] to write the famous paper, "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection".<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16internet.html NYTimes.com]</ref>


==Education==
Dr. Kahn is the Founder, Chairman, CEO, and President of the [[CNRI| Corporation for National Research Initiatives]];<ref>[http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/bios/kahn.html CNRI.reston.va.us]</ref> his work with [[DARPA]] and the [[CNRI]] constituted the largest computer research and development program ever undertaken by the federal government.<ref>[http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/05/18/GCN-Interview-with-Robert-Kahn.aspx GCN.com]</ref>
==The Beginning==
Dr. Kahn first met Dr. Cerf at UCLA in 1969, after the [[ARPANET]] nodes had been nationally distributed. At that time, he was working at an engineering firm in Cambridge, Mass., and travelled to UCLA to experiment with the new network. While at Bolt Beranek and Newman in Cambridge, Mr. Kahn helped build the [[Interface Message Processor]].<ref>[http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_kahn.htm LivingInternet.com]</ref>
 
By the time they published their famous paper, in 1973, Vinton was a professor at Stanford, and Robert was working within the Defense Department's [[DARPA|Advanced Research Projects Agency]], the founders of the ARPANET. They did not claim their protocols as [[Intellectual Property|intellectual property]], and thus it was able to flourish as an open standard.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16internet.html?pagewanted=2 NYTimes.com]</ref>
 
In 1972, while working at [[DARPA]], he gave a presentation of the an ARPANET network, connecting 40 different computers at the International Computer Communication Conference. This was the first time that much of the computing world, and the general population were introduced to the revolutionary network.<ref>[http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_kahn.htm LivingInternet.com]</ref>
 
Robert Kahn has rejected any type of "Father of the Internet" label, saying that today's Internet was created through a community effort.<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/18/kahn_net_neutrality_warning/ TheRegister.co.uk]</ref>
===TCP/IP===
While working at DARPA's [[IPTO|Information Processing Techniques Office]] Kahn took up work on a current project to establish a satellite packet network, and began a project on creating a ground-based radio packet network. Through his work in these projects he became aware of the need for an open-architecture network; wherein any network could communicate with any other individual hardware and software configuration. He created four goals for what was to the [[TCP| Transmission Control Protocol]]:
# Network Connectivity - any network could connect through another via a gateway
# Distribution - No central hub or control
# Error Recovery - Lost packets would need to be retransmitted
# Black Box Design - No internal changes would be necessary to facilitate new networks
 
Less than a year later, in 1973, Vinton Cerf joined the project. They began by researching reliable data communications across packet radio networks, accounted for lessons learned from the [[Networking Control Protocol]], and subsequently created the next generation [[TCP|Transmission Control Protocol]], which was to become the standard protocol continually used on the Internet.
 
They designed powerful error and retransmission capabilities into TCP in order to provide more reliable communications; the design was thus formed around two protocols, TCP/IP. TCP is in charge of handling high level services, like the retransmission of lost packets, and [[IP]] addresses and transmits packets.<ref>[http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_kahn.htm LivingInternet.com]</ref>
 
==Contemporary Work==
In 2007, Robert strongly came out against [[Net Neutrality]] legislation; this type of legislation is largely opposed by prominent Internet engineers. Dr. kahn fears that discouraging experimentation on the fringes of the net's architecture will compromise the development of the still "very fragile" Internet. He calls the neutrality issue a bigger threat to the health of the Internet than possible fragmentation.<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/18/kahn_net_neutrality_warning/ TheRegister.co.uk]</ref>
 
Robert is still very much working in a role focused on technological advancement and infrastructural development with the [[CNRI]], and has welcomed renewed government interest in infrastructural R&D within the context of the economic downturn.<ref>[http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/05/18/GCN-Interview-with-Robert-Kahn.aspx GCN.com]</ref>
 
Dr. Khan has been recently involved in [[Digital Object Architecture]], which aimed to create a network model whose main goal was to manage information, not switch packets as in the case of the Internet. An interview wherein Robert technically parses his current work can be found [http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/05/18/GCN-Interview-with-Robert-Kahn.aspx?Page=2 here].
 
He has said that further developing the Internet today is akin to “changing the wings and the engines on a flying aircraft without being able to ever land it”; though he claims that the research community must take a more active role in innovating on the Internet.<ref>[http://www.princeton.edu/engineering/news/archive/?id=804 Princeton.edu]</ref>
 
==Memberships==
* Fellow, [[ACM]]<ref>[http://fellows.acm.org/fellow_citation.cfm?id=4598637&srt=alpha&alpha=K ACM.org]</ref>
* Member, Board of Directors, [[Qualcomm]]<ref>[http://investor.qualcomm.com/directors.cfm Qualcomm.com]</ref>
* Member, [[NAE|National Academy of Engineering]]
* Fellow, [[IEEE| Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]]
* Fellow, [[AAAI| Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence]]
* Fellow, Computer History Museum
* Member, U.S. State Dept.'s Advisory Committee on International Communication and Information Policy
* Former Member, President's Information Technology Advisory Committee
* Former Member, Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine
* Former Member, President's Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure<ref>[http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/bios/kahn.html CNRI.reston.va.us]</ref>


After receiving a B.E.E. from the City College of New York in 1960, Dr. Kahn earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University in 1962 and 1964 respectively.  
==Career History==
* Technical Engineer, Bell Laboratories
* Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, MIT
* Engineer, Bolt Beranek and Newman
* Director of Information Processing Techniques, [[DARPA]]
* Founder, Chairman, CEO and President, [[CNRI]]<ref>[http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/bios/kahn.html CNRI.reston.va.us]</ref>


==Work==
==Awards and Recognition==
Robert, along with [[Vinton Cerf]], recieved the 2004 [[ACM]] [[Turing Award]]. When they received the prize it was the first time in the 39 year history of the award that it was conferred in honor of work done on computer networking.


He worked on the Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories and then became an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT. He took a leave of absence from MIT to join Bolt Beranek and Newman, where he was responsible for the system design of the Arpanet, the first packet-switched network. In 1972 he moved to [[DARPA]] and subsequently became Director of DARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO). While Director of [[IPTO]] he initiated the United States government's billion dollar Strategic Computing Program, the largest computer research and development program ever undertaken by the federal government. Dr. Kahn conceived the idea of open-architecture networking. He is a co-inventor of the [[TCP/IP]] protocols along with [[Vinton Cerf]]. He was also responsible for originating DARPA's Internet Program. CNRI provides the Secretariat for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Dr. Kahn also coined the term National Information Infrastructure (NII) in the mid 1980s which later became more widely known as the Information Super Highway.
In 1997, Robert received the National Medal of Technology. That year he and Vinton also received the [[IEEE]] Alexander Graham Bell  Medal.<ref>[http://www.ieee.org/documents/bell_rl.pdf IEEE.org]</ref> He shared the 2001 Charles Stark Draper Prize with other important pioneers of the early Internet networking system.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16internet.html NYTimes.com]</ref>


In his recent work, Dr. Kahn has been developing the concept of a digital object architecture as a key middleware component of the NII. This notion is providing a framework for interoperability of heterogeneous information systems and is being used in many applications such as the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). He is a co-inventor of Knowbot programs, mobile software agents in the network environment.
Prof. Kahn is a two-time recipient Secretary of Defense Civilian Service Award; and has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom


==Memberships and Honors==
Other awards include:
* AFIPS Harry Goode Memorial Award
* The Marconi Award
* ACM SIGCOMM Award
* ACM President's Award
* IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computer and Communications Award
* IEEE Third Millennium Medal
* ACM Software Systems Award
* Computerworld/Smithsonian Award
* Computing Research Board ASIS Special Award
* Computing Research Board Public Service Award
* 2002 Prince of Asturias Award
* 2003 Digital ID World award for the Digital Object Architecture
* 2005, Townsend Harris Medal from the Alumni Association of the City College of New York
* C & C Prize in Tokyo, Japan
* 2006 Inductee, National Inventors Hall of Fame
* 2008 Japan Prize for his work in ICT Theory
* 2010 Harold Pender Award from the University of Pennsylvania
===Honorary Degrees===
He has received honorary degrees from the following institutions:
* Princeton University
* University of Pavia
* ETH Zurich
* University of Maryland
* George Mason University
* The University of Central Florida
* University of Pisa, and an
* Honorary Fellow, University College<ref>[http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/bios/kahn.html CNRI.reston.va]</ref>


Dr. Kahn is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a former member of its Computer Science and Technology Board, a Fellow of the [[IEEE]], a Fellow of [[AAAI]], a fellow of [[ACM]]. He is a former member of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, a former member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine and the President's Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure. He is a recipient of the AFIPS Harry Goode Memorial Award, the Marconi Award, the ACM SIGCOMM Award, the President's Award from ACM, the IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computer and Communications Award, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, the [[IEEE Third Millennium Medal]], the [[ACM Software Systems Award]], the [[Computerworld/Smithsonian Award]], the [[ASIS Special Award]] and the [[Public Service Award]] from the Computing Research Board. He has twice received the [[Secretary of Defense Civilian Service Award]]. He is a recipient of the 1997 National Medal of Technology, the 2001 Charles Stark Draper Prize from the National Academy of Engineering, the 2002 [[Prince of Asturias Award]], and the 2004 [[A. M. Turing Award]] from the [[Association for Computing Machinery]]. He has received honorary degrees from [[Princeton University]], [[University of Pavia]], [[ETH Zurich]], [[University of Maryland]], [[George Mason University]], and the [[University of Central Florida]], and an honorary fellowship from [[University College]], London. Dr. Kahn received the 2003 [[Digital ID World award]] for the Digital Object Architecture as a significant contribution (technology, policy or social) to the digital identity industry.
==Education==
* B.E.E, City College of NYC, 1960
* M.A., Princeton University, 1962
* Pd.D., Princeton University, 1964


==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category: People]]
[[Category: USA]]
[[Category: USA]]
[[Category:Technical Community]]
[[Category:Internet Pioneers]]

Latest revision as of 17:41, 8 July 2021
Affiliation: CNRI
Country: USA

Robert E. Kahn is the co-inventor of the TCP/IP system that established the architectural basis of the Internet. He worked with Vinton Cerf to write the famous paper, "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection".[1]

Dr. Kahn is the Founder, Chairman, CEO, and President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives;[2] his work with DARPA and the CNRI constituted the largest computer research and development program ever undertaken by the federal government.[3]

The Beginning[edit | edit source]

Dr. Kahn first met Dr. Cerf at UCLA in 1969, after the ARPANET nodes had been nationally distributed. At that time, he was working at an engineering firm in Cambridge, Mass., and travelled to UCLA to experiment with the new network. While at Bolt Beranek and Newman in Cambridge, Mr. Kahn helped build the Interface Message Processor.[4]

By the time they published their famous paper, in 1973, Vinton was a professor at Stanford, and Robert was working within the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, the founders of the ARPANET. They did not claim their protocols as intellectual property, and thus it was able to flourish as an open standard.[5]

In 1972, while working at DARPA, he gave a presentation of the an ARPANET network, connecting 40 different computers at the International Computer Communication Conference. This was the first time that much of the computing world, and the general population were introduced to the revolutionary network.[6]

Robert Kahn has rejected any type of "Father of the Internet" label, saying that today's Internet was created through a community effort.[7]

TCP/IP[edit | edit source]

While working at DARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office Kahn took up work on a current project to establish a satellite packet network, and began a project on creating a ground-based radio packet network. Through his work in these projects he became aware of the need for an open-architecture network; wherein any network could communicate with any other individual hardware and software configuration. He created four goals for what was to the Transmission Control Protocol:

  1. Network Connectivity - any network could connect through another via a gateway
  2. Distribution - No central hub or control
  3. Error Recovery - Lost packets would need to be retransmitted
  4. Black Box Design - No internal changes would be necessary to facilitate new networks

Less than a year later, in 1973, Vinton Cerf joined the project. They began by researching reliable data communications across packet radio networks, accounted for lessons learned from the Networking Control Protocol, and subsequently created the next generation Transmission Control Protocol, which was to become the standard protocol continually used on the Internet.

They designed powerful error and retransmission capabilities into TCP in order to provide more reliable communications; the design was thus formed around two protocols, TCP/IP. TCP is in charge of handling high level services, like the retransmission of lost packets, and IP addresses and transmits packets.[8]

Contemporary Work[edit | edit source]

In 2007, Robert strongly came out against Net Neutrality legislation; this type of legislation is largely opposed by prominent Internet engineers. Dr. kahn fears that discouraging experimentation on the fringes of the net's architecture will compromise the development of the still "very fragile" Internet. He calls the neutrality issue a bigger threat to the health of the Internet than possible fragmentation.[9]

Robert is still very much working in a role focused on technological advancement and infrastructural development with the CNRI, and has welcomed renewed government interest in infrastructural R&D within the context of the economic downturn.[10]

Dr. Khan has been recently involved in Digital Object Architecture, which aimed to create a network model whose main goal was to manage information, not switch packets as in the case of the Internet. An interview wherein Robert technically parses his current work can be found here.

He has said that further developing the Internet today is akin to “changing the wings and the engines on a flying aircraft without being able to ever land it”; though he claims that the research community must take a more active role in innovating on the Internet.[11]

Memberships[edit | edit source]

Career History[edit | edit source]

  • Technical Engineer, Bell Laboratories
  • Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, MIT
  • Engineer, Bolt Beranek and Newman
  • Director of Information Processing Techniques, DARPA
  • Founder, Chairman, CEO and President, CNRI[15]

Awards and Recognition[edit | edit source]

Robert, along with Vinton Cerf, recieved the 2004 ACM Turing Award. When they received the prize it was the first time in the 39 year history of the award that it was conferred in honor of work done on computer networking.

In 1997, Robert received the National Medal of Technology. That year he and Vinton also received the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal.[16] He shared the 2001 Charles Stark Draper Prize with other important pioneers of the early Internet networking system.[17]

Prof. Kahn is a two-time recipient Secretary of Defense Civilian Service Award; and has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Other awards include:

  • AFIPS Harry Goode Memorial Award
  • The Marconi Award
  • ACM SIGCOMM Award
  • ACM President's Award
  • IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computer and Communications Award
  • IEEE Third Millennium Medal
  • ACM Software Systems Award
  • Computerworld/Smithsonian Award
  • Computing Research Board ASIS Special Award
  • Computing Research Board Public Service Award
  • 2002 Prince of Asturias Award
  • 2003 Digital ID World award for the Digital Object Architecture
  • 2005, Townsend Harris Medal from the Alumni Association of the City College of New York
  • C & C Prize in Tokyo, Japan
  • 2006 Inductee, National Inventors Hall of Fame
  • 2008 Japan Prize for his work in ICT Theory
  • 2010 Harold Pender Award from the University of Pennsylvania

Honorary Degrees[edit | edit source]

He has received honorary degrees from the following institutions:

  • Princeton University
  • University of Pavia
  • ETH Zurich
  • University of Maryland
  • George Mason University
  • The University of Central Florida
  • University of Pisa, and an
  • Honorary Fellow, University College[18]

Education[edit | edit source]

  • B.E.E, City College of NYC, 1960
  • M.A., Princeton University, 1962
  • Pd.D., Princeton University, 1964

References[edit | edit source]

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