Vint Cerf is undoubtedly one of the most important personalities of the 20th century. He was born on June 23, 1943 in Connecticut, USA to Vinton Thurston Cerf, an employee in an aeronautical company, and Muriel Cerf.
An outstanding student, he received his early education at the Van Nuys High School, where he studied along with future computer scientists Jon Postel and Steve Crocker. After his schooling, Cerf went to Stanford University where he received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Subsequently, he joined the IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) as a systems engineer.
Two years later, he quit this job, and pursued an MS degree at the University of California. It was then that Cerf met Robert Kahn, who later became the co-founder of Internet Protocols.
In 1972, Cerf earned a PhD in computer science from the Stanford University, and started working as an assistant professor there.
It was in 1976 that Cerf joined the US government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Along with Kahn, he founded the Internet Society in 1992.
Cerf’s contributions to the world of IT are incomparable.