Lawrence Roberts

In October 1969, a group of researchers successfully sent a message between computers using a new kind of networking system.

Widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of the internet, Lawrence Roberts was the primary architect of the ARPANET, the predecessor to the internet

Roberts was born on December 21, 1937, in Connecticut. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) earning his bachelor’s degree in 1959, master’s degree in 1960 and Ph.D in 1963.

Lawrence Roberts - founding father of the internet

In 1966 he was lured from the Lincoln Laboratory at the MIT to implement the Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) vision of an interconnected computer network. This agency had the task of creating and sustaining US technological supremacy in the field of military applications throughout the world.

By the mid 1960s, the initial tests had come to fruition. In 1967, Roberts had developed the first workable plan for a network of linked computers. The first test was of this concept was successfully completed in California in 1969 when computers at UCLA and Stanford were linked together and a message was transferred between them. ARPAnet was born.

Initially, this project remained a secret feasibility study under the auspices of the US Department of State. But its rapid growth among the universities and research institutions with defense contracts made keeping it undercover unfeasible. In 1972, it was made public at an international computer conference.

As one of a handful of internet pioneers, Roberts has received numerous awards, including:
IEEE Harry M. Goode Memorial Award (1976)
L.M. Ericsson Prize (1982) in Sweden
Member, National Academy of Engineering (1978)
Computer Design Hall of Fame Award (1982)
IEEE W. Wallace McDowell Award (1990)
Association for Computing Machinery SIGCOMM Award (1998)
IEEE Internet Award (2000)
International Engineering Consortium Fellow Award (2001)
National Academy of Engineering Charles Stark Draper Prize (2001)
Principe de Asturias Award 2002 in Spain
NEC C&C Award (2005) in Japan
Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society (2012)
Lawrence Roberts