Vint Cerf

Vinton Cerf was the co-creator of the protocols which became TCP/IP, the standard for what is now called the Internet. Working for the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 1972 to 1982, Cerf, his partner, Robert E. Kahn, and a host of others created the underlying protocols and architecture that would be used to the present day in this vast worldwide network. He has since worked for a number of companies, including MCI (later MCI-Worldcom) and was the leading engineer in the creation of MCI Mail, the first commercial email service connected to the Internet. He has received the U.S. National Medal of Technology and a large host of other awards and accolades for his decades of technical work. Dr. Cerf is the chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and founded the Internet Society, an industry working group for Internet standards and documents.