2019 Internet Hall of Fame Inuctees Announced

Eleven individuals hailing from six countries around the world, including Peru, Japan, Brazil, Netherlands, Togo and the US, are being inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame for their pioneering and visionary contributions to the Internet’s global growth, access and security. The 2019 inductees: 

• Adiel Akplogan (Africa) advanced the Internet in Africa and served as founding CEO of the Regional Internet Registry for Africa
• Kimberly Claffy (United States) pioneered the field of Internet data collection, measurement and analysis
• Douglas Comer (United States) wrote the first series of authoritative textbooks explaining the scientific principles of the Internet’s design and communications protocols
• Elise Gerich (United States) was instrumental in the transition of the NSFNET to the modern-day Internet and the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions from stewardship of the U.S. government to a multistakeholder community
• Larry Irving (United States) was a driving force behind the identification of the Digital Divide in the U.S, igniting global interest in the issue
• Dan Lynch (United States) drove adoption of TCP/IP protocols and played a key role in driving the Internet towards a commercial network
• Jean Armour Polly (United States)  pioneered free Internet access in public libraries
• José Soriano (Peru) was a leader in bringing the Internet to Peru and designed a replicable “public Internet” model
• Michael Stanton (Brazil) was instrumental in bringing the Internet to Brazil, and continues to participate in the design and deployment of scalable optical networks in South America and around the world
• Klaas Wierenga (Netherlands) invented eduroam, an international Wi-Fi roaming service for academic and research communities in over 100 countries
• Suguru Yamaguchi (Japan) was a cybersecurity research pioneer and global leader in its deployment; and founded Asia Pacific broadband Internet research and educational network project via satellite