Jon Postel
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Jonathan Bruce Postel (August 6, 1943 – October 16, 1998) made many significant contributions to the creation of the Internet, particularly in the area of standards. The Economist dubbed him the "God" of the Internet, and many still refer to him as the network's principal founder.[1] He is largely known for being the Editor of the RFC document series, and for managing the creation and allocation of Top Level Domains and IP addresses in the pre-ICANN era. When he passed away he was the Director of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute's Computer Network Division; he led a staff of 70.[2] He pioneered many initiatives, which led to creation of the modern Internet and its governing body, ICANN; he established IANA, ICANN's precursor and the current Internet numbering authority.[3]
Mr. Postel died from complications related to heart surgery. It happened at a critical time in the history of the Internet's development, as the Clinton administration prepared to transfer oversight of the network to the organization he helped to build, ICANN.[4]
Beginnings of the Internet
While a graduate student and researcher at UCLA, Jon became involved with the ARPANET.[5] After UCLA he briefly worked at Mitre and SRi, before coming to the ISI, where he spent the remaining 21 years of his career, attaining the position of Director.[6] As a researcher at ISI, Jon made many achievements regarding protocol design and verification, multimedia computing and communications, electronic commerce, the domain name system, and specific Internet protocols. These protocols include the TCP/IP, the SMTP, and the DNS.[7] While Mr. Postel was primarily a researcher he immediately recognized the need for organization to make the network of packet-switching into a medium of universal communication. Thus, he became the RFC Editor, who is responsible for issuing documents that specify how Internet computers interoperate, and founded IANA, the central coordination hub of the Internet.[8]
The level of control he had over the burgeoning Internet was underscored months before he past away; he redirected half the Internet's 12 directory-information computers to his own system. Jon later told authorities that he was only testing how such a transition would run.[9] Despite this level of power and authority, Jon was a soft-spoken man who undertook his work in an open and transparent manner.
IANA
Jon voluntarily took on the task of founding and running IANA, the Internet's necessary numbering authority. He initially performed all numbering procedures and allocations manually. Thus, in Vint Cerf's words, he kept track of the names of all things in the networked universe.[10]
Notable Roles
- Founding RFC Editor, 1969 - 1998
- Founder of IANA, The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
- Founding member of IAB, The Internet Architecture Board
- Founding member & first individual member of ISOC[11]
- ISOC Trustee, 1996 - 1998.[12]
The Jon B. Postel Service Award
In memory of the debt owed to Mr. Postel from the entire IT community, ISOC annually awards a prize in his honor. It is presented to an outstanding individual who has made important progress within the data communications industry. A $20,000 prize is associated with the award. [13]
Education
Jon received his B.Sc ( 1966), his M.A. (Engineering,