How Did Vinton Cerf Shape the Internet?

The internet has become a central part of daily life for many of us. But do you know who developed the ideas and technologies that formed the foundations for how the internet functions?

One of the visionaries known as the “fathers of the internet” is National Inventors Hall of Fame^® Inductee Vinton G. Cerf, who helped create the architecture of the internet and the software known as the transmission control protocol/internet protocol, or TCP/IP, which allows supercomputers and our everyday devices to share the internet.

An Inspired Mind

Cerf was born in 1943 in New Haven, Connecticut, and his parents, Vincent Thurston Cerf and Muriel Cerf, moved the family to Los Angeles. His interest in STEM began during childhood. At age 10, he started learning algebra and found it particularly exciting. At the same age, he also began exploring chemistry. During his high school years, he took a deep interest in computers.

“Most teenagers then didn't have access to computing resources, but I got lucky,” Cerf said in an interview with the National Inventors Hall of Fame. “That absolutely affected my career pretty dramatically.”

Growing up, Cerf experienced progressive auditory nerve loss, and he has relied on hearing aids since he was 13. He says this has shaped his mindset and his approach to innovation. “I'm very empathetic with people who […] need help or some accommodation and assistance,” Cerf said. “That colored my interest in technologies that would be facilitating.”

Another influence on Cerf’s approach to innovation has been his interest in science fiction. “I think that science fiction does encourage me to look into the distant future, not just tomorrow morning,” he explained. “Second, it encourages me to think about things that haven't been done that could be done, or to make me wonder if they could be done.”

Cerf studied mathematics at Stanford University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1965. He spent the next two years working as a systems engineer at IBM Corp. and then began pursuing his graduate studies at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He earned his master’s degree in 1970 and his doctorate in 1972, both in computer sciences.

A Drive to Innovate

It was at UCLA that Cerf met his future co-inventor and fellow National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee Robert E. Kahn. At the time, Kahn was working on the ARPANET system architecture, which presaged the technical foundation of the internet.

After Cerf had earned his doctorate from UCLA, he returned to Stanford for four years to work as an assistant professor, and he focused on network interconnection protocols. In 1973, he and Kahn began to develop a better protocol. Their aim was to create something that would provide the flexibility and reliability needed to meet challenges including interference with transmissions. Together, they developed TCP/IP to allow different, distant computers to connect and interact with each other.

In 1983, TCP/IP became the required protocol of ARPANET, SATNET and PRNET – the first three networks of the Internet.

“As an engineer, the thing that you want is for people to use what you've built. There is no joy in designing and building something that nobody wants or isn’t useful,” Cerf said. “Most of the projects that I've had the luck to work on have turned out to be usable and used. Of course, internet is pretty dramatic in that regard.”

In 1976, Cerf joined the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funded efforts to develop TCP/IP and other technologies. In 1982, he moved on to MCI Inc., which would later become WorldCom. Here, he led the development and implementation of MCI Mail, which was the first commercial internet-based email service. In 1986, Cerf joined Kahn's Corporation for National Research Initiatives, and in 1994, he returned to MCI and became senior vice president for internet architecture and technology.

For seven years, beginning in 2000, Cerf was chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). In 2005, he left MCI to become vice president and “chief internet evangelist” at Google Inc., where he has focused on new technologies and the ways in which technology might affect our society into the future.

As distinguished visiting scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cerf is working with a team to design a Solar System Internet to support human and robotic space exploration. “Building the interplanetary internet, it sounds science fiction-y, but it's really just engineering,” Cerf said. “That's what engineers do — they take science fiction, and they turn it into reality.”

In recognition of his impact, Cerf has received many honors and awards, including the IEEE Medal of Honor. In 1997, both Cerf and Kahn were awarded the National Medal of Technology and the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, and in 2005, they received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Commenting on what drives him to continue exploring and innovating, Cerf responded, “It comes from being someplace where nobody's been before and trying to figure out how to make it work. Most of this is along the lines of ‘Nobody ever did this before, so why don't we try?’”

See His Story

To see Cerf reflect on his journey and his impact, watch this new video. Created by the National Inventors Hall of Fame in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, it offers a unique and inspiring perspective on his life and work.

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