Vinton G. Cerf, Ph.D., is Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. He is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies and applications on the Internet and other platforms for the company. Widely known as a "Father of the Internet," Cerf is the codesigner with Robert Kahn of the TCP/IP protocols and basic architecture of the Internet.
As a Senior Scientist, Cerf advises Gallup on technology and the Gallup World Poll. This groundbreaking research project, which surveys more than 160 countries that are home to more than 98% of the world's population, covers topics such as economic conditions, government and business, health and well-being, infrastructure, and education.
In 1997, President Clinton presented Cerf and Kahn with the U.S. National Medal of Technology in recognition of their pioneering work. In 2005, Cerf and Kahn received the highest civilian honor bestowed in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This award honors them for their work on the software code used to transmit data across the Internet, which has put them at the forefront of a digital revolution that has transformed global commerce, communication, and entertainment. Cerf and Kahn also received the Japan Prize in 2008 and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engingeering in 2013 for their work on the Internet. He was appointed an Officer of the French Legion d'Honneur in 2013.
From 1994-2005, Cerf served as Senior Vice President at MCI. Prior to that, he was Vice President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), and he served as Vice President of MCI from 1982-1986. During his tenure with the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 1976-1982, Cerf played a key role in leading the development of Internet and Internet-related data packet and security technologies.
President Obama appointed Cerf to the National Science Board that oversees the National Science Foundation for a 6 year term in 2013. Cerf served as chairman of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) from 2000-2007; he has been a Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1998. He served as founding president of the Internet Society (ISOC) from 1992-1995 and was on the ISOC board until 2000. Cerf is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Registry for Internet Numbers and the StopBadWare organization and is President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Engineering Consortium, the Computer History Museum, and the Marconi Society, and he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Cerf has received many awards and commendations in connection with his work on the Internet, including the Marconi Prize, the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering of the National Academy of Engineering, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research, the Alexander Graham Bell Award presented by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the A.M. Turing Award from the Association for Computer Machinery, the Silver Medal of the International Telecommunications Union, and the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, among many others.
Cerf received his doctorate in computer science from the University of California at Los Angeles. He has received more than a dozen honorary degrees.