Radia Perlman

Updated: 03/06/2020 by Computer Hope
Radia Perlman

Name: Radia Joy Perlman

Born: 1951 in Portsmouth, Virginia USA

Computer-related contributions

  • Considered the "mother of the Internet."
  • Software designer and network engineer. Best known for her invention of the STP (spanning-tree protocol), which is fundamental to the operation of network bridges.
  • She has contributed to other areas of network design and standardization, such as link-state protocols and TRILL, which she invented to correct some shortcomings of spanning trees.

Significant publications

  • Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking Protocols (1999).
  • Private Communication in a Public World.

Honors and awards

  • SIGCOMM Award (2010).
  • USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award (2006).
  • Recipient of the first Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award for Innovation in 2005.
  • SVIPLA (Silicon Valley Inventor of the year) (April 28, 2004).
  • Honorary Doctorate, Royal Institute of Technology (June 28, 2000).
  • Named as one of the 20 most influential people in the industry in the 20th and 25th anniversary issue of Data Communications magazine (only person to be named in both issues) (1992 and 1997).