Cerf, Vinton (1943- )

US inventor of part of the TCP/IP protocols on which the Internet is based. Known throughout the industry as the ‘Father of the Internet’, Cerf was president of the Internet Society from 1992 to 1995 and was a principal developer of the ARPANET.

Formerly assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University, Cerf is senior vice-president of data architecture for MCI WorldCom's Data Services Division in Reston, Virginia. He was awarded the US National Medal of Technology in 1997.

Cerf sits on the boards of around a dozen companies and organizations. He is chairman of the Internet Societal Task Force, which aims to make the Internet accessible to everyone and analyses international, national, and local policies surrounding its use.