Cerfing the Internet Society

The Internet Society last week elected Vint Cerf chairman, three years after he stepped down as the organization's founding president.

Cerf, a senior vice president of MCI Communications Corp., is considered one of the fathers of the Internet because he developed the language of the global computer network--the TCP/IP protocol--with Robert Kahn in the 1970s.

As Internet Society chairman, Cerf will play an important role as the network undergoes a critical period of transition from U.S. government sponsorship to self-regulation. The 6-year-old global organization, based in Reston, Va., represents segments of the Internet community ranging from network engineers to end users.