Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Gerald M. Masson Distinguished Lecture Series
February 10, 2026
“Internet Past, Present, and Future”
Vinton G. Cerf, Google
We will take a 70-year look (1969–2039) at the internet: where it came from, what's happening to it now, and where it will go in the future. It starts with the conception of packet switching (1961–1965) and the Arpanet project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and continues with the internet's design (1973), operational initiation (1983), and expansion (1986–1991). The arrival of the world wide web (1991) triggers the dot-com boom with the initial public offering of Netscape Communication (1995). Then we move on to the dot-com bust in 2000, the arrival of the smartphone (2007), social media (2006–2015+?), and large language models . . . all the way to the interplanetary internet (1998–present and beyond).
Vinton G. Cerf is the vice president and chief internet evangelist for Google. The co-designer of both the transmission control and internet protocols and the architecture of the internet, he has served in executive positions at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers; the Internet Society; MCI, Inc.; the Corporation for National Research Initiatives; and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. A former Stanford University professor and former member of the U.S. National Science Board, Cerf is also the past president of the ACM and emeritus chairman of the Marconi Society, and has served in advisory capacities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy, the NSF, the U.S. Navy, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the National Reconnaissance Office. He earned his BS in mathematics at Stanford and his MS and PhD degrees in computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a member of both the National Academies of Science and Engineering, the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, and the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. Cerf is a recipient of numerous awards for his work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Technology, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, the Prince of Asturias Award, the Japan Prize, the Charles Stark Draper Prize, the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the Marconi Prize, the Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Medal of Honor, the Legion d’Honneur, the VinFuture Grand Prize, and the Franklin Medal. He is a foreign member of both the Royal Society and Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and holds 33 honorary degrees.
Gerald M. Masson Distinguished Lecture Series
February 10, 2026
“Internet Past, Present, and Future”
Vinton G. Cerf, Google
We will take a 70-year look (1969–2039) at the internet: where it came from, what's happening to it now, and where it will go in the future. It starts with the conception of packet switching (1961–1965) and the Arpanet project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and continues with the internet's design (1973), operational initiation (1983), and expansion (1986–1991). The arrival of the world wide web (1991) triggers the dot-com boom with the initial public offering of Netscape Communication (1995). Then we move on to the dot-com bust in 2000, the arrival of the smartphone (2007), social media (2006–2015+?), and large language models . . . all the way to the interplanetary internet (1998–present and beyond).
Vinton G. Cerf is the vice president and chief internet evangelist for Google. The co-designer of both the transmission control and internet protocols and the architecture of the internet, he has served in executive positions at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers; the Internet Society; MCI, Inc.; the Corporation for National Research Initiatives; and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. A former Stanford University professor and former member of the U.S. National Science Board, Cerf is also the past president of the ACM and emeritus chairman of the Marconi Society, and has served in advisory capacities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy, the NSF, the U.S. Navy, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the National Reconnaissance Office. He earned his BS in mathematics at Stanford and his MS and PhD degrees in computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a member of both the National Academies of Science and Engineering, the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, and the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. Cerf is a recipient of numerous awards for his work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Technology, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, the Prince of Asturias Award, the Japan Prize, the Charles Stark Draper Prize, the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the Marconi Prize, the Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Medal of Honor, the Legion d’Honneur, the VinFuture Grand Prize, and the Franklin Medal. He is a foreign member of both the Royal Society and Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and holds 33 honorary degrees.
