Rob Blokzijl receives prestigious Jonathan B. Postel Service Award

28 juli 2015

Dr. Rob Blokzijl, a former Nikhef physicist and computer scientist, has been awarded with the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award 2015 by the Internet Society. Blokzijl received the prestigious award for his pioneering work, 25 years of leadership at Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE), and for enabling countless others to spread the Internet across Europe and beyond.

During the 80s Blokzijl was active in building networks for the particle physics community in Europe. Through his experience at Nikhef and CERN, he recognized the power of collaborating with others building networks for research and travelled worldwide to promote cooperation across networkers. In the 1990s, Dr. Blokzijl was influential in the creation of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), one of the first in Europe. His most widely recognized contribution is as founding member and 25-year chairman of RIPE, the European open forum for IP networking.

During the awards ceremony at the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) meeting, Blokzijl thanked the Internet Society. He also explained how his involvement in the internet started for him at Nikhef and thanked the institute for putting him on the road of networking and putting their trust in him.

About the award
The Postel Award was established by the Internet Society to honor individuals or organizations that, like Jon Postel, have made outstanding contributions in service to the data communications community. The award is focused on sustained and substantial technical contributions, service to the community, and leadership.

Read the press release on the website of the Internet Society.

Watch the ceremony at IETF from 1hr 17m 40s.

More information:
Science Communications Department – mail – 020-592 5075