Jon Postel

Jonathan Bruce Postel (August 6, 1943 - October 16, 1998) made many significant contributions to the Internet, particularly in the area of standards. He is principally known for being the Editor of the RFC document series. The Internet Society's Postel Award is named in his honor, as is the Postel Center at ISI.

Career

Postel earned a B.S. and M.S. in engineering (in 1966 and 1968 respectively), and a Ph.D. in computer science in 1974, all from UCLA.

Related Topics:
Engineering - 1966 - 1968 - Computer science - 1974 - UCLA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While at UCLA, he was involved in early work on the ARPANET; he later moved to the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, where he spent the rest of his career.

Related Topics:
ARPANET - Information Sciences Institute - University of Southern California

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He wrote and edited many important RFCs, including RFCs 0791-0793, which define the basic protocols of the Internet protocol suite, and RFC 2223. He himself wrote or co-authored more than 200 RFCs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He served on the Internet Architecture Board and its predecessors for many years. He also initiated and ran the number assignment clearinghouse, the IANA, from its inception to his death. He was the first member of the Internet Society, and was on the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society.

Related Topics:
Internet Architecture Board - IANA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~