The legendary Jon Postel

Jon Postel, Internet Pioneer 
August 6, 1943 - October 16, 1998 
              

Jon was many things to many people in the Internet:

• In its infancy, Jon worked on its development, from its early protocols, to the creation of TCP/IP.
• Documenter and co-developer many of the key Internet standards, including TCP/IP (basic Internet protocols), SMTP (email transfer), and DNS (name servers).
• Editor of the RFC series from April 7, 1969 (its inception) until his untimely departure in Oct. 1998, covering over 2400 RFCs, and advocate of clean, conservative protocol design and specification. See RFC-2555 for more information.
• Co-author of over 204 Internet RFCs
• The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), and advocate of conservation of protocol and port numbers.

Jon's influence is felt throughout the Internet, in its protocols, in their documentation, in the DNS names we use and the 'dot' we use to separate them, and, in no small way, in the 'good engineering' that helped the Internet thrive from its inception in 1969 to today.
Jon was essentially a shepherd of the Internet. He watched over it, and helped husband its resources by suggesting simplicity, conservatism, and completeness in its protocols.

Jon worked at ISI from March 21, 1977, and since January 1, 1997 was the Division Director of USC/ISI's Computer Networks Division, which hosts Postel Center.