Vinton G. Cerf
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Internet Cofounder and Developer
Vinton Cerf, one of the most celebrated technical architects
of the last century, is Senior Vice President for Technology
Strategy at MCI. In 1973 while working at Stanford
University with support from DARPA (U.S. Department of
Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency) and in collaboration
with Robert E. Kahn, Cerf developed the TCP/IP,
the computer networking protocol that set the transmission
standard for data communications on the Internet. In December
1997, President Bill Clinton presented the U.S. National
Medal of Technology to Cerf and Kahn for founding and developing
the Internet. In the course of his career, Cerf has
received countless awards and commendations including
the Marconi Fellowship, the Charles Stark Draper award of
the National Academy of Engineering, the Prince of Asturias
award for science and technology, and the Alexander Graham
Bell Medal.
Cerf has been quoted as saying he was motivated in part
by his significant hearing impairment to help devise and create
the world’s ultimate communications medium, the Internet.
On the Education Corner-For Kids Sake, which is featured
on Vint’s Web site CerfsU (www.mci.com/cerfsup), Vint puts
it this way, “I think one of the greatest gifts a parent can give
a child is confidence in himself or herself. This may come in
many forms—encouragement for constructive interests and
creative work or demonstrating confidence in a child’s judgment
by allowing a child to make his or her choices in matters
appropriate to age level and apparent maturity. . . . Above
all else, kids need to know they are loved. Don’t hesitate to
tell them that warmly and often.”