Cerfing the Internet Society

By KAREN KAPLAN

Sept. 7, 1998 12 AM PT

The Internet Society last week elected Vint Cerf chairman, three years after he stepped down as the organization’s founding president.

Cerf, a senior vice president of MCI Communications Corp., is considered one of the fathers of the Internet because he developed the language of the global computer network--the TCP/IP protocol--with Robert Kahn in the 1970s.

As Internet Society chairman, Cerf will play an important role as the network undergoes a critical period of transition from U.S. government sponsorship to self-regulation. The 6-year-old global organization, based in Reston, Va., represents segments of the Internet community ranging from network engineers to end users.

Technology and the Internet Business

Karen Kaplan

Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.

Cerfing the Internet Society

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