Vinton G. Cerf

Honorary Degree

Spring 2008 Convocation

Vinton G. Cerf is the public face for Google. As vice-president and chief Internet evangelist, he is responsible for identifying technologies that support the development of advanced Internet-based products and services for this popular search engine.

From 1976 – 1982, Cerf played a key role in leading the development of Internet and Internet-related data packet and security technologies at the U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Then, at MCI Digital Information Services, he led engineering of the first commercial e-mail service to be connected to the Internet and later led a team of architects and engineers to design advanced networking frameworks.

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. Kahn and Cerf were also named recipients of the ACM Alan M. Turing award in 2004 for their work on Internet protocols.

Cerf is the recipient of numerous other awards and commendations in connection with his work on the Internet. These include the Marconi Fellowship, the Prince of Asturias award for science and technology and the Silver Medal of the International Telecommunications Union.

Cerf is chair of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and served as founding president of the Internet Society from 1992-1995. In addition, he is honorary chair of the IPv6 Forum, dedicated to raising awareness and speeding introduction of the new Internet protocol; and serves on several national, state and industry committees focused on cyber-security.

Cerf is a member of many boards as well and a Fellow of the IEEE, American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Engineering Consortium, the Computer History Museum and the National Academy of Engineering.

In addition to being appointed as distinguished visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he is working on the design of an interplanetary Internet, Cerf has served as technical advisor to production for Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict and made a special guest appearance on an episode of the television series in May 1998.

The recipient of numerous honorary degrees from institutes around the world, including the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, 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.

As the co-creator of the Internet, Vinton Cerf is one of the few people who can claim to have quite literally changed our world.

As a PhD student in computer science at the University of California at Los Angeles, Vinton Cerf – along with Robert Kahn – designed the protocols and the basic architecture for what became the Internet. In 1997, President Clinton recognized their work with the U.S. National Medal of Technology. In 2005, they received the highest civilian honour bestowed in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It recognizes the fact that their work on the software code used to transmit data across the Internet has put them “at the forefront of a digital revolution that has transformed global commerce, communication, and entertainment.”

Vinton Cerf’s many other awards include the ACM Alan M. Turing award, sometimes called the "Nobel Prize of Computer Science."

Today, as Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist with Google.com, Vinton Cerf is responsible for identifying new technologies and applications on the Internet and other platforms for the company. His quest for innovation extends beyond Google, however. He travels the world helping states and economies develop Internet-based activities. As a distinguished visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, he is contributing to a design for an interplanetary Internet. He is in Victoria this week at an international conference to explore how the Internet can be used to resolve disputes.

This conference is sponsored by Royal Roads University and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, an organization Vinton Cerf chairs. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the Endowment for Excellence in Education and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Engineering Consortium – to name but a few of his appointments.

Royal Roads University honours Vinton Cerf as a great scientist who exemplifies each one of the pillars of this university. His work has broadened the reach of science and facilitated developments in communication, sustainability, entrepreneurship, justice and peacebuilding. Most importantly, his fearless vision has created a transformative technology that this university embraced when it was created in 1995 and which continues to be fundamental to our model for delivering applied, professional education.

Mr. Chancellor, I am pleased to present Vinton G. Cerf for the degree, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.