Vinton G. Cerf, Sr.

Vice President for Internet Architecture and Technology MCI WorldCom

Vinton G. Cerf is senior vice president of Internet Architecture and Technology for MCI WorldCom. Cerf's team of architects and engineers design advanced Internet frameworks for delivering a combination of data, information, voice and video services for business and consumer use. Widely known as a "Father of the Internet," Cerf is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocol, the computer language that gave birth to the Internet and which is commonly used today. In December 1997, President Clinton presented the U.S. National Medal of Technology to Cerf and his partner, Robert E. Kahn, for founding and developing the Internet.

Prior to rejoining MCI in 1994, Cerf was vice president of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI). As vice president of MCI Digital Information Services from 1982-1986, he led the engineering of MCI Mail, the first commercial email service to be connected to the Internet. During his tenure from 1976-1982 with the U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Cerf played a key role leading the development of Internet and Internet-related data packet and security technologies. Cerf served as founding president of the Internet Society from 1992-1995 and recently completed his term as chairman of the Board. He also is chairman of the newly created Internet Societal Task Force that will focus on making the Internet accessible to everyone and analyzing international, national and local policies surrounding Internet use.

In addition, Cerf is honorary chairman of the newly formed IPv6 Forum, dedicated to raising awareness and speeding introduction of the new Internet protocol. Cerf is a member of the U.S. Presidential Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC). He also sits on the Board of Directors for the Endowment for Excellence in Education, Gallaudet University, the MCI WorldCom Foundation and the Hynomics Corporation. Cerf is a fellow of the IEEE, ACM, and American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Engineering Consortium and the National Academy of Engineering. Cerf is a recipient of numerous awards and commendations in connection with his work on the Internet. These include the Marconi Fellowship, 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, 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 and the Werner Wolter Award.

In December, 1994, People magazine identified Cerf as one of that year's "25 Most Intriguing People." In addition to his work on behalf of MCI WorldCom and the Internet, Cerf serves as technical advisor to production for "Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict," the number one television show in first-run syndication. He also made a special guest appearance in May 1998. Cerf also holds an appointment as distinguished visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he is working on the design of an interplanetary Internet. Cerf holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Stanford University and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from UCLA. He also holds honorary Doctorate degrees from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich; Lulea University of Technology, Sweden; University of the Balearic Islands, Palma; Capitol College and Gettysburg College. 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.

Any questions or problems, please contact noms2000@comsoc.org