Bob Kahn
Born 1938 · Age 87
American electrical engineer and Internet pioneer; co-inventor of TCP/IP; founder & longtime CEO of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI); major contributor to ARPANET, DARPA networking programs, and Internet governance.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Brooklyn, New York
Robert Elliot Kahn born to Beatrice Pauline (née Tashker) and Lawrence Kahn in an Ashkenazi Jewish family.
Family moved to Flushing, Queens
Kahn's family moved from Flatbush, Brooklyn to Flushing, Queens (around 1953).
Completed accelerated high school program
Finished his high school's accelerated (3-year) program and prepared for college studies.
Enrolled at Queens College
Began undergraduate studies at Queens College (attended two years before transferring).
Transferred to City College of New York
Transferred from Queens College to City College to continue electrical engineering studies.
Joined Bell Laboratories (Manhattan)
After graduation began work on the technical staff at AT&T Bell Labs offices in Manhattan.
Received B.E.E. from City College of New York
Graduated with a bachelor's in electrical engineering (City College of New York).
Awarded NSF fellowship and entered Princeton University
Received a National Science Foundation fellowship and began graduate studies at Princeton.
Earned M.A. in Electrical Engineering, Princeton
Completed master's degree in electrical engineering at Princeton University.
Awarded Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Princeton
Completed doctoral dissertation 'Some problems in the sampling and modulation of signals.' Advisor: Bede Liu.
Appointed Assistant Professor at MIT
Became an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1964–1966).
Took leave from MIT to join Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN)
Left MIT on leave (1966) to work at BBN where he would become involved in ARPANET system design.
Started working on ARPANET project at BBN
Began significant work on the ARPANET project at BBN (packet-switched network predecessor to the Internet).
Tested first ARPANET nodes at UCLA
Participated in testing the first ARPANET nodes at UCLA (September 1969).
Public ARPANET demonstration at ICCC
In the fall of 1972 demonstrated ARPANET by connecting ~20 (dozens referenced) diverse computers at the International Conference on Computer Communications.
Joined DARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO)
Moved to DARPA (IPTO) to manage research programs in networking and information processing.
Collaborated with Vint Cerf on early TCP
Vint Cerf joined the project (spring 1973); together they completed an early version of TCP which later split into TCP and IP.
Originated early concepts of open-architecture networking
Conceived architectural principles (gateways/routers, end-to-end reliability and checksums) that underpinned TCP/IP and internetworking.
Became Director of DARPA IPTO (approx.)
Assumed leadership role at IPTO (exact appointment date varies in sources; served as Director during years when Strategic Computing Initiative was launched).
Co-invented Knowbot programs (mobile agents)
Credited as a co-inventor of Knowbot programs—early mobile software agents in network environments used in CNRI research.
Elevated to IEEE Fellow
Recognized as an IEEE Fellow for original work in packet switching and mobile radio telecommunications technology.
ARPANET to TCP/IP network transition
Played an integral role in the transition/switch from ARPANET to TCP/IP (industry-wide adoption around early 1983).
Initiated Strategic Computing Initiative
As IPTO director started the U.S. government's Strategic Computing Initiative — described as a billion-dollar program to advance computing research.
Left DARPA after ~13 years of service
Ended ~13-year tenure at DARPA/IPTO (joined 1972; left mid-1980s) to move to private/non-profit sector.
CNRI provided IETF Secretariat (later milestone)
CNRI served as the Secretariat for the IETF for a period (CNRI provided administrative/institutional support to IETF).
Founded Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI)
Founded CNRI (not-for-profit) in 1986 and became its Chairman, CEO and President to advance the National Information Infrastructure (NII).
Coined 'National Information Infrastructure' term
Popularized the term 'National Information Infrastructure' (NII), later known as the 'Information Superhighway'.
Elected Member, National Academy of Engineering
Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering for contributions to computer networks, packet switching and management of research.
Founding Fellow, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
Elected as a Founding Fellow of AAAI in recognition of contributions to computing fields.
Private sector donations exceed $500M for Internet buildout (by 1990)
By 1990 the private sector had donated more than $500 million to expand Internet infrastructure (ETHW historical note).
Co-founded the Internet Society (ISOC)
Co-founded the Internet Society with Vint Cerf to provide leadership in Internet standards, education and policy.
Awarded SIGCOMM Award
Received ACM SIGCOMM Award for visionary technical contributions and leadership in information systems technology.
Received National Medal of Technology
Awarded the U.S. National Medal of Technology (1997) for contributions to networking and Internet technology.
Received IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
Shared the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1997) with Vint Cerf for contributions to networking.
Awarded honorary degree by University of Pavia
Received an honorary degree from the University of Pavia.
Served on Qualcomm Board of Directors (periodic role)
Served on the board of directors for Qualcomm (exact appointment years not specified in sources).
Received Stibitz-Wilson Award
Awarded the Stibitz-Wilson Award from the American Computer & Robotics Museum for pioneering the Internet.
Publication: 'Al Gore and the Internet'
Co-authored a public article 'Al Gore and the Internet' with Vint Cerf (published Oct 2, 2000).
Awarded Charles Stark Draper Prize
Shared the Charles Stark Draper Prize (National Academy of Engineering) for development of the Internet.
Elected ACM Fellow
Inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery for leadership in Internet design, digital libraries and more.
Received Prince of Asturias Award
Shared the Prince of Asturias Award (Technical and Scientific Research) in 2002 for Internet contributions.
Digital ID World award for Digital Object Architecture
Received the 2003 Digital ID World award for the Digital Object Architecture's contribution to digital identity.
Developed Digital Object Architecture
Advanced the 'digital object architecture' as middleware for the NII; used in applications like the Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
Awarded A. M. Turing Award
Shared the ACM A.M. Turing Award with Vinton Cerf for pioneering work on internetworking and TCP/IP.
Received Presidential Medal of Freedom
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (one of the U.S.'s highest civilian honors).
Awarded Townsend Harris Medal & C&C Prize
Received the Townsend Harris Medal from City College Alumni Association and the C & C Prize in Tokyo.
Elected Fellow of the Computer History Museum
Recognized as a Fellow of the Computer History Museum for pioneering internetworking contributions.
Inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame
Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (May 2006) for pioneering Internet technologies.
Received Japan Prize
Awarded the Japan Prize (together with Vinton Cerf) for work in Information Communication Theory and Technology.
Awarded Harold Pender Award
Received the Harold Pender Award, the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering's highest honor (Feb 2010).
Honorary degrees and fellowships (accumulation)
Has received honorary degrees from multiple institutions including Princeton, ETH Zurich, U. of Maryland, George Mason, UCF, Pisa and honorary fellowship from UCL.
Inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame
Recognized as an inaugural inductee into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society.
Awarded inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
One of five Internet and Web pioneers to receive the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.
Honorary doctor, Saint Petersburg ITMO University
Recognized as honorary doctor of Saint Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO).
Longtime Chairman, CEO & President of CNRI (ongoing)
Continued leadership of CNRI, the not-for-profit he founded in 1986 (serving as chairman, CEO and president as of 2019+).
Continued development of Digital Object Architecture
Continued to promote and develop digital object architecture and DOI-related frameworks via CNRI into the 2020s.
Awarded IEEE Medal of Honor
Received the IEEE Medal of Honor for pioneering technical and leadership contributions in packet communication and foundations of the Internet.
Key Achievement Ages
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