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URV

Vinton G. Cerf

Date of investiture:
22 May 2000
Sponsor:
Manel Sanromà
Area of knowledge:
Computer Science

Vinton Gray Cerf was invested as an Honorary Doctor by the Rovira i Virgili University on 22 May 2000 in the Main Auditorium of the URV’s Rectorate. Manel Sanromà, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Engineering and Mathematics, and, at that time, president of the Internet Society in Catalonia, sponsored him and gave a speech about the doctorand’s professional career.

Cerf is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocol, a computer language which has made the Internet possible. Furthermore, he has played a key role in developing the World Wide Web and was the founding president of the Internet Society. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by universities all over the world, among them the University of the Balearic Islands, Capitol College and Gettysburg College. He has received numerous awards, among them the National Medal of Technology of the U.S.A., which he received with his colleague and co-founder of the Internet, Robert E. Kahn, and the Prince of Asturias Award for Science and Technology in 2003.

In his speech, which centred on the changes the Internet has made and will make to people’s daily lives, he emphasized the numerous devices that would be run on the Internet, such as web television, the Palm Pilot, a personal digital diary, predictions which have become reality with time.