Vinton Gray Cerf (born June 23, 1943) is an American scientist who helped create the Internet. He is known as one of "the fathers of the Internet," along with Robert Kahn, who worked together to develop TCP/IP.

He has received many honors, such as the National Medal of Technology, the Turing Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Marconi Prize, and membership in the National Academy of Engineering.

Life and career

Vinton Gray Cerf was born on June 23, 1943, in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the son of Muriel (née Gray) and Vinton Thruston Cerf. His mother was born in Canada and had ancestors from Britain, Ireland, and French Canada. His father’s ancestors moved from Alsace–Lorraine to Kentucky. Cerf attended Van Nuys High School with Steve Crocker and Jon Postel. During high school, he worked at Rocketdyne for six months on the Apollo program and helped create software to analyze data from tests of the F-1 rocket engines.

Cerf earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Stanford University. After college, he worked at IBM for two years as a systems engineer, supporting a project called QUIKTRAN.

Cerf and his wife, Sigrid, both have difficulty hearing. They met at a hearing aid clinic in the 1960s, which led Cerf to support efforts to improve accessibility for people with hearing challenges. They have two sons, David and Bennett.

Cerf left IBM to study at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he earned a master’s degree in 1970 and a doctorate in 1972. He studied under Professor Gerald Estrin and worked with Professor Leonard Kleinrock on a group that helped connect the first two parts of ARPANET, the early version of the Internet. Cerf helped develop a communication system for ARPANET called a "host-to-host protocol."

At UCLA, Cerf met Bob Kahn, who was also working on ARPANET. Cerf led a group called the International Network Working Group. He co-wrote the first version of TCP, a key part of the Internet’s communication system, with Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine. This document, called "Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program" (RFC 675), was published in December 1974.

From 1972 to 1976, Cerf was an assistant professor at Stanford University, where he researched how different networks could connect to each other. He helped design the DoD TCP/IP protocol suite with Bob Kahn.

From 1973 to 1982, Cerf worked at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He supported groups developing TCP/IP, packet radio (PRNET), packet satellite (SATNET), and packet security technology. These projects were based on the needs of the military. In the late 1980s, Cerf joined MCI, where he helped create the first commercial email system (MCI Mail) connected to the Internet in 1989.

Cerf has been involved in many global humanitarian organizations. He often wears a three-piece suit, which is unusual in the technology industry, where casual clothing is common.

From 1982 to 1986, Cerf was vice president of MCI Digital Information Services, where he led the development of MCI Mail. In 1986, he joined Bob Kahn at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, working on projects like Digital Libraries and high-speed networks. Since 1988, Cerf has supported making the Internet private. In 1992, he and Kahn helped start the Internet Society (ISOC), an organization focused on Internet education, policy, and standards. Cerf was the first president of ISOC. He returned to MCI in 1994 as Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy, helping guide the company’s technical direction.

In 1997, Cerf joined the board of trustees at Gallaudet University, a school for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Cerf himself has difficulty hearing. He has also served on the university’s Board of Associates.

As leader of MCI’s Internet business, Cerf faced criticism because MCI continued to provide IP addresses to Send-Safe.com, a company that sent spam using a botnet. MCI did not stop the company. At the time, MCI had the most spam-related listings on Spamhaus’s Block List.

Since 2005, Cerf has worked for Google as a vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist. In this role, he has shared ideas about how technology, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet’s future, might shape society.

Cerf has served on the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a United Nations group that works to expand access to high-speed Internet. He helped start ICANN, the organization that manages Internet domain names. He was on ICANN’s board from 1999 to 2007 and was chairman from 2000 to 2007.

Cerf was a member of Bulgaria’s IT Advisory Council from 2002 to 2012. He also serves on the advisory board of Eurasia Group, a company that studies political risks.

Cerf is working with NASA on the Interplanetary Internet, a system that would allow communication between planets using radio or laser signals that can handle delays and disruptions caused by space travel.

In 2006, Cerf spoke to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation about net neutrality. As Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist, he said many Americans had few choices for Internet service providers and warned that without fair rules, providers might limit consumer options or charge companies like Google for using their networks.

Cerf currently advises Scientists and Engineers for America, an organization that promotes science in government. He also advises CRDF Global and was on the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats.

Cerf was president of the Association for Computing Machinery in 2012 and joined the Council on CyberSecurity’s Board of Advisors in 2013.

From 2011 to 2016, Cerf was chairman of ARIN, the organization that manages Internet address assignments in the U.S., Canada, and parts of the Caribbean. Until 2015, he led StopBadware, a group that fights malware. He also advises The Liquid Information Company Ltd in the UK and is on the CuriosityStream Advisory Board.

In 2008, Cerf led a group at the IETF that worked on internationalized domain names. He was a top candidate to be the first U.S. Chief Technology Officer under President Barack Obama. Cerf co-chairs Campus Party Silicon Valley, a technology festival in the U.S., with Al Gore and Tim Berners-Lee.

From 2009 to 2011, Cerf was on the board of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP), a group that helps develop standards for the Smart Grid, an advanced electricity system.

Cerf was elected president of the Association for Computing Machinery in 2012.

Awards and honors

Vinton Cerf has received many honorary degrees, such as doctorates, from several universities around the world. These include the University of the Balearic Islands, ETH Zurich in Switzerland, Capitol College, Gettysburg College, Yale University, George Mason University, Marymount University, Bethany College (Kansas), University of Pisa, University of Rovira and Virgili (Tarragona, Spain), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Luleå University of Technology (Sweden), University of Twente (Netherlands), Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Tsinghua University (Beijing), Brooklyn Polytechnic, UPCT (University of Cartagena, Spain), Zaragoza University (Spain), University of Reading (United Kingdom), Royal Roads University (Canada), MGIMO (Moscow State University of International Relations), Buenos Aires Institute of Technology (Argentina), Polytechnic University of Madrid, Keio University (Japan), University of South Australia (Australia), University of St Andrews (Scotland), University of Pittsburgh, and Gallaudet University (United States).

Other awards he has received include:

• Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year Award from UCLA
• Prince of Asturias Award for science and technology
• Life Member of the IEEE
• Fellow of the IEEE for work and leadership in designing, developing, and using internet protocols
• Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, 1994
• Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1995 for contributions to network protocols and leadership in the Internet's development
• Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award, 1996
• SIGCOMM Award for contributions to the Internet over more than 25 years, including the development of TCP/IP protocols
• Certificate of Merit from The Franklin Institute, 1996
• National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton in December 1997 for creating and sustaining the development of Internet protocols and leadership in internetworking
• Stibitz-Wilson Award from the American Computer & Robotics Museum in 1999
• Honorary doctorate from URV, Spain, in 2000
• Living Legend Medal from the Library of Congress in April 2000
• Fellow of the Computer History Museum in 2000 for contributions to computer architecture, operating systems, and software engineering
• Fellow of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) in 2000
• Award of Technology from the Telluride Tech Festival in 2002
• Turing Award in 2004 for pioneering work on internetworking, including the Internet's basic communications protocols, and leadership in networking
• Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in November 2005 for contributions to the creation of the Internet
• Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2006
• St. Cyril and Methodius in the Coat of Arms Order in July 2006
• Honorary Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) in May 2006
• Japan Prize in January 2008
• Inducted into the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and given the Freedom of the City of London in April 2008
• Honorary membership in the Yale Political Union after delivering a keynote speech on "Online Communities are Real Communities"
• Selected as a guest curator for YouTube's five-year anniversary in 2007
• IEEE-HKN Eta Kappa Nu Eminent Member, 2010
• HPI Fellowship in May 2011 for contributions to a new medium that influenced everyday life
• Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society in September 2011
• Inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2012
• Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2013
• Bernard Price Memorial Lecture in 2013
• Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st class, in 2014 for his role in inventing TCP/IP
• Officer of the French Légion d'honneur in 2014
• Honorary doctorate from the University of Reading, UK, in 2015
• Foreign Member of the UK Royal Society in 2016
• Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2018
• Catalonia's International Award in 2018
• IEEE Medal of Honor in 2023 for co-creating the Internet architecture and leadership in its growth
• Inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2024.

Partial bibliography

Cerf writes in a section titled "CERF'S UP," and the license plate on Cerf's car is labeled "CERFSUP."