Changes

In 2010, Blokzijl was made an Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau at a ceremony conducted by the acting Mayor of Amsterdam, Lodewijk Asscher. He was recognized for his "outstanding leadership and contribution over the last 20 years to the development of the Internet", for serving as an Internet pioneer, and as one of the "key figures in the European Internet".<ref name=Orange/> In 2015, at the Internet Engineering Task Force meeting, Blokzijl was awarded the Internet Society's Jonathan B. Postel Service Award "for his collaboration and contributions to building the Internet across Europe and beyond".<ref name=IS>[http://www.internetsociety.org/news/rob-blokzijl-receives-2015-jonathan-b-postel-service-award Rob Blokzijl Receives 2015 Jonathan B. Postel Service Award] (July 23, 2015), Internet Society. Retrieved November 12, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://blog.apnic.net/2015/07/24/rob-blokzijl-receives-the-2015-johnathan-b-postel-award-at-ietf93/ Rob Blokzijl receives the 2015 Johnathan B. Postel Award at IETF93] by George Michaelson (24 Jul 2015), APNIC. Retrieved November 12, 2015.</ref> An announcement about the award read in part, "During the 1980s, Dr. Blokzijl was active in building networks for the particle physics community in Europe. Through his experience at the National Institute for Nuclear and High Energy Physics (NIKHEF) and CERN, he recognized the power of collaborating with others building networks for research and travelled worldwide to promote cooperation across networkers. In the 1990s, Dr. Blokzijl was influential in the creation of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, one of the first in Europe. His most widely recognized contribution is as founding member and 25-year chairman of RIPE, the European open forum for IP networking. Dr. Blokzijl was also instrumental in the creation of RIPE NCC in 1992, the first Regional Internet Registry in the world." Kathy Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Society, said, "Rob's technical expertise and tireless work had a profound impact on the development of the Internet as we know it today. Beyond the breadth of his technical contributions, Rob is known across the Internet community for his strong leadership and unwavering commitment to collaboration and cooperation, exemplifying the spirit of this award."<ref name=IS/>

In 2010, Blokzijl was made an Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau at a ceremony conducted by the acting Mayor of Amsterdam, Lodewijk Asscher. He was recognized for his "outstanding leadership and contribution over the last 20 years to the development of the Internet", for serving as an Internet pioneer, and as one of the "key figures in the European Internet".<ref name=Orange/> In 2015, at the Internet Engineering Task Force meeting, Blokzijl was awarded the Internet Society's Jonathan B. Postel Service Award "for his collaboration and contributions to building the Internet across Europe and beyond".<ref name=IS>[http://www.internetsociety.org/news/rob-blokzijl-receives-2015-jonathan-b-postel-service-award Rob Blokzijl Receives 2015 Jonathan B. Postel Service Award] (July 23, 2015), Internet Society. Retrieved November 12, 2015.</ref><ref>[https://blog.apnic.net/2015/07/24/rob-blokzijl-receives-the-2015-johnathan-b-postel-award-at-ietf93/ Rob Blokzijl receives the 2015 Johnathan B. Postel Award at IETF93] by George Michaelson (24 Jul 2015), APNIC. Retrieved November 12, 2015.</ref> An announcement about the award read in part, "During the 1980s, Dr. Blokzijl was active in building networks for the particle physics community in Europe. Through his experience at the National Institute for Nuclear and High Energy Physics (NIKHEF) and CERN, he recognized the power of collaborating with others building networks for research and travelled worldwide to promote cooperation across networkers. In the 1990s, Dr. Blokzijl was influential in the creation of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, one of the first in Europe. His most widely recognized contribution is as founding member and 25-year chairman of RIPE, the European open forum for IP networking. Dr. Blokzijl was also instrumental in the creation of RIPE NCC in 1992, the first Regional Internet Registry in the world." Kathy Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Society, said, "Rob's technical expertise and tireless work had a profound impact on the development of the Internet as we know it today. Beyond the breadth of his technical contributions, Rob is known across the Internet community for his strong leadership and unwavering commitment to collaboration and cooperation, exemplifying the spirit of this award."<ref name=IS/>

Dr. Blokzijl passed away on December 1, 2015 at the age of 72.

Dr. Blokzijl passed away on December 1, 2015 at the age of 72.<ref>[https://www.ripe.net/participate/ripe/rob-blokzijl-obituary Rob Blokzijl Obituary] (24 Jul 2015), RIPE. Retrieved December 4, 2015.</ref>

==Early Life and Education==

==Early Life and Education==