- First to develop the underlying principles of packet switching,
the communications technology of the Internet (this was a decade
before the Internet was founded).
- Known as the Father of Modern Data Networking.
- Published the first paper on Packet Switching Theory, "Information
Flow in Large Communication Nets" (July, 1961).
- Published the first book on packet switching ("Communications
Nets", 1964).
- Laid out some of the key functional specifications for the ARPANET
(predecessor to the Internet).
- Directed the first installation of the Internet in September,
1969.
- Supervised the first message transmission on the Arpanet in
October, 1969; this was the first murmurings of what later exploded
into the Internet.
- Established and ran the network's Network Measurement Center for
its entire life.
- Published the classic text on queueing theory, the key analytical
tool for describing data networks.
- Published the first book describing the workings of the
Internet.
- Organized and chaired the first Symposium commemorating the full
life of the ARPANET in August 1989, its 20th and final
anniversary.
- Produced 44 Ph.D. students who form a brain trust of networking
expertise both in the USA and internationally.
- Led the National Research Council's Computer Science and
Telecommunications Board (CSTB) committee which laid out the framework
in 1988 for today's emerging Gigabit networks.
- Founding member of the Cross-Industrial Working Team to promote
the development of the National Information Infrastructure.
- Led the National Research Council's CSTB committee which produced
the 1994 report "Realizing the Information Future; The Internet and
Beyond"; this lays out the fundamental vision for the National
Information Infrastructure.
- Currently leading the research and development movement in Nomadic
Computing and Communications.