What Is Vinton Cerf?

Getting lost on the Internet is easy, but Vinton Cerf can help you find your way home. Cerf, known to be the "father of the Internet" (and rightly so), has made a career of getting people from A to B without worrying about getting lost. He's such a pro at it that he's won awards for his work, the Turing Award, the National Medal of Technology, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and even an honorary doctorate from Harvard University! So if you're looking for someone who knows how to get where they need to go fast and efficiently, look no further than Vinton Cerf! Vint Cerf is currently the Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google. When Cerf needs to work on improving the Internet, he enjoys collecting rare books about science and exploration. Cerf is also a keen photographer and has published many books on his travel photography and co-authored a book about trains. In his early career years, Vinton Cerf worked at the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He also guided the creation of the Internet, Internet-based security and data packet technologies. Cerf was born in New York City in 1943 to Jewish parents Louis and Pauline Cerf. His father immigrated from Russia, and his mother was born in New York. Both his parents were doctors and encouraged him to become one as well. He graduated from Far Rockaway School in 1960 and attended Stanford University. While at Stanford, he met Robert Kahn and worked with him at DARPA on a project known as Arpanet that would eventually lead to the creation of the Internet. Cerf was one of those rare people who could do technical research and commercial development because he understood both sides well. His ability to bridge these two worlds earned him a place on Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people of 2008 and an honorary doctorate from Stanford University in 2009. Vinton Cerf is a man of many hats.