Cerf, Kahn Receive Top Civilian Honors

Internet architects Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn are among the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.'s top civilian honor, at a White House ceremony today.

Often referred to as the “Fathers of the Internet,” Dr. Vinton Cerf and Dr. Robert Kahn were among recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor at a White House ceremony today.

Established by President Truman in 1953, the medal may be awarded by the President “to any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

In the 1970s, Cerf and Kahn were among the early engineers who designed and implemented basic components of what would eventually become the Internet. Together, Kahn and Cerf created Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) governing data transmission and re-assembly, protocols which today are still the very core and fiber of all Internet communication.

Dr. Cerf is currently chair of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist, while Dr. Kahn is CEO of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), a non-profit funding development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII), a term Dr. Kahn coined, and currently works on topics surrounding digital identity and digital object architecture.

Other named recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom today are boxer Muhammad Ali, entertainer Carol Burnett, historian Robert Conquest, singer Aretha Franklin, economist Alan Greenspan, actor Andy Griffith, broadcaster Paul Harvey, veterans’ activist Sonny Montgomery, General Richard B. Myers, golfer Jack Nicklaus, baseball great Frank Robinson, and humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina, who sheltered over 1,000 people at a hotel he managed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.