SC Steve CrockerInternet Pioneer
~/career

Five decades, every layer of the network

Research labs, a defense agency, start-ups and the boardroom of the Internet's global coordinator. Crocker's career follows the Internet itself.

Professional timeline

From graduate student to ICANN Chair

  1. 1968 – 1972

    UCLA

    Graduate researcher · Network Working Group

    Wrote RFC 1, helped found the Network Working Group and led the design of the ARPANET's host-to-host Network Control Program.

  2. EARLY 1970s

    DARPA

    Program Manager

    Managed research programs at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the agency that funded the ARPANET.

  3. 1970s

    USC Information Sciences Institute

    Senior Researcher

    Conducted research at one of the country's leading computer-science institutes, itself a key site in the Internet's development.

  4. EARLY 1980s

    The Aerospace Corporation

    Founder & Director, Computer Science Laboratory

    Established and led the organization's computer-science research laboratory.

  5. BEFORE 1994

    Trusted Information Systems

    Vice President

    Helped lead a company specializing in computer and network security.

  6. 1994

    CyberCash, Inc.

    Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer

    Co-founded one of the first companies to make secure payments over the Internet possible.

  7. 1998

    Executive DSL

    Founder

    Founded and ran a DSL-based Internet service provider.

  8. 1999

    Longitude Systems

    Co-founder & CEO

    Co-founded and led a technology company as chief executive.

  9. 2003 – 2017

    ICANN

    Board Member → Vice Chair → Chair (2011–2017)

    Spent 14 years on the board of the organization that coordinates the Internet's names and numbers, leading it as Chair for six of them.

  10. TODAY

    Shinkuro, Inc.

    Chief Executive Officer

    Leads a research and development company working on Internet technology and security.

Service to the Internet community

Leadership roles held for the public good

Alongside his professional career, Crocker has held many of the Internet's key volunteer leadership roles.

IETF

Security Area Director

Oversaw the Internet Engineering Task Force's security standards work, part of the body that grew from his Network Working Group.

IAB

Internet Architecture Board

Served on the board responsible for the long-range architectural oversight of the Internet.

Internet Society

Board of Trustees

Helped govern the nonprofit that supports the IETF and promotes an open, globally connected Internet.

ICANN SSAC

Chair, Security & Stability Advisory Committee

Led the committee that advises ICANN on the security and integrity of the Internet's naming and addressing systems.

ICANN Board

Vice Chair, then Chair

Led ICANN's board from 2011 to 2017, a period that included the 2016 transition of IANA stewardship to the global multistakeholder community.

INWG

International Network Working Group

Formed in 1972 to carry the work of internetworking beyond a single national network.

Expertise

Areas of work

His work runs from protocol design to boardroom governance, a breadth few in the field can match.

Network protocol design ARPANET / NCP Internet standards Internet security DNS security Electronic payments Artificial intelligence Internet governance R&D leadership Entrepreneurship
14
Years on ICANN's board
6
Years as ICANN Chair
4
Companies co-founded or founded
1
RFC that started them all
Recognition

A career honored worldwide

The Internet Hall of Fame, IEEE, ACM, the Internet Society and more have recognized his contributions.

See honors & awards