14 DAY TRIAL // In a surprise announcement, Google said that starting from today Vinton Cerf will join the company as Chief Internet Evangelist.
Vinton Cerf is known as one of the founders of the Internet. During his tenure from 1976 to 1982 with the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Vinton Cerf played a key role leading the development of Internet and Internet-related data packet and security technologies, including co-designing the TCP/IP protocol.
Cerf joins Google from MCI, where he led technology advancements since 1982, with a break to return to research at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives from 1986 to 1994. On his return to MCI in 1994, he helped to put MCI on the Internet map. With Robert Kahn, he recently received the ACM's A.M. Turing Award, considered "the Nobel Prize for computing," for his achievements in computer networking.
"Vint Cerf is clearly one of the great technology leaders of our time," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt of Cerf, who co-designed the TCP/IP protocols that were used to develop the Internet's underlying architecture.
Cerf will continue his leadership in the Internet community, and help Google build network infrastructure, architectures, systems, and standards for the next generation of Internet applications.
"His vision for technology helped create entire industries that have transformed many parts of our lives. We are honored to welcome him to Google." said Eric Schmidt, who has been friends with Cerf for more than 20 years.
Cerf is also working on the Interplanetary Network, a project of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, which aims to extend the Internet into outer space for planet-to-planet communications. He will also continue in his role as the Chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
"Google has already made tremendous strides in making access to information on the web a reality for users across the globe, but we're still in the Internet's early innings," Vinton Cerf said. "This medium will enjoy wider-spread use than television, radio or phones, and will ultimately expand beyond planet Earth. Google has always believed in doing things differently, and I believe that places us in a unique position to help bring even the wildest Internet visions into reality."