Joyce K. Reynolds facts for kids

Joyce Kathleen Reynolds (born March 8, 1952 – died December 28, 2015) was an important American computer scientist. She helped create the basic rules, called "protocols," that make the Internet work. She wrote or helped write many special documents called RFCs. These documents explained how important Internet tools like Telnet, FTP, and POP should work.

Joyce Reynolds' Work

Joyce Reynolds studied social sciences at the University of Southern California. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees there.

Helping the Internet Grow

From 1983 to 1998, Joyce worked closely with another famous computer scientist, Jon Postel. They helped set up the early parts of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). IANA is like the traffic controller for the Internet. It makes sure every computer and website has a unique address. Joyce helped manage things like giving out IP addresses (which are like phone numbers for computers) and organizing the main parts of website names (called the Domain Name System, or DNS).

After Jon Postel passed away in 1998, Joyce helped make sure IANA's important jobs were smoothly moved to a new group called Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. She continued working with ICANN until 2001, while still being an employee at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI).

Editing Internet Rules

Joyce also played a big role in editing the "Request for Comments" (RFC) documents. These documents are like instruction manuals for how the Internet should operate. She was part of the RFC editorial team from 1987 to 2006. From 1998 until 2006, she helped lead the RFC Editor team at ISI.

She was also a member of the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) from 1990 to 1998. This group helps guide the development of Internet standards.

Awards and Tributes

In 2006, Joyce Reynolds received the Postel Award along with Bob Braden. This award recognized their important contributions to the Internet. She was also mentioned in a special document from 1992 called Who's Who in the Internet.

After she died, Brian Carpenter, a former leader of the IETF, suggested that people working on the Internet should often ask themselves, "What would Joyce have said?" This shows how much respect people had for her ideas and wisdom.

Her Passing

Joyce K. Reynolds passed away on December 28, 2015. She died because of health problems related to cancer.

See also

In Spanish: Joyce K. Reynolds para niños