Robert Metcalfe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Metcalfe
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Metcalfe in 2004
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Robert Melancton Metcalfe
April 7, 1946 New York City, U.S.
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| Spouse(s) | Robyn |
| Children | 2 |
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| Thesis | Packet Communication (1973) |
| Doctoral advisor | Jeffrey P. Buzen |
Robert "Bob" Melancton Metcalfe (born April 7, 1946) is an American engineer and business person. He helped create the internet in the 1970s. He also helped invent Ethernet, started a company called 3Com, and came up with Metcalfe's law. This law explains how a network becomes more useful as more people join it.
Bob Metcalfe has won many awards for his work on Ethernet. These include the IEEE Medal of Honor and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In 2023, he received the Turing Award. This is the highest honor in computer science. From 2011 to 2021, he was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He taught about new ideas and starting businesses.
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Early Life and Education
Robert Metcalfe was born in 1946 in New York. His parents were Ruth and Robert Metcalfe. His family background includes English, Irish, and Norwegian roots. His father was a technician who worked with gyroscopes. His mother was a homemaker who later became a secretary.
Metcalfe finished high school in 1964. He then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1969, he earned two degrees in electrical engineering and business management. After MIT, he studied at Harvard University. He received a master's degree in applied mathematics in 1970. In 1973, he earned his PhD in computer science.
Metcalfe is married to Robyn. They have two children together.
Career Highlights
While studying for his PhD, Metcalfe worked at MIT's Project MAC. Harvard did not let him connect their university to the new ARPAnet. So, Metcalfe helped build the parts needed to link MIT's computers to ARPAnet.
Metcalfe wrote his PhD paper about ARPAnet. Harvard first rejected it. While working at Xerox PARC, he read about the ALOHA network. He found and fixed problems in the AlohaNet design. He added this work to his paper, and Harvard then accepted it.
Inventing Ethernet
In 1973, Metcalfe was working at Xerox PARC. He and David Boggs invented Ethernet. It was first used to connect computers over short distances. Metcalfe remembered that Ethernet was created on May 22, 1973. On that day, he shared a memo called "Alto Ethernet." It showed a basic plan for how it would work.
Metcalfe explained that this was the first time the word "Ethernet" was used. It also introduced the idea of using a coax cable like an "ether." Computers would send their data packets through it. Sometimes, data would crash, and they would have to resend it. Boggs thought November 11, 1973, was the true birth of Ethernet. This was the first day the system actually worked.
Founding 3Com
In 1979, Metcalfe left PARC. He started 3Com in his apartment in Palo Alto. 3Com made equipment for computer networks. 3Com became a top company for networking solutions. Ethernet became the main way to connect computers in local area networks (LANs).
In 1980, Metcalfe received the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award. This was for his work on local networks, especially Ethernet. In 1990, Metcalfe left 3Com. He then spent 10 years writing an internet column for InfoWorld. In 1996, he helped start Pop!Tech, a technology conference. In 2001, he became a venture capitalist. He later became a partner at Polaris Venture Partners.
From 2011 to 2021, he was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He focused on new ideas and projects. In June 2022, Metcalfe returned to MIT. He joined the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He works there as a research engineer.
Awards and Recognition
Bob Metcalfe has received many important awards for his work.
- In 1996, he won the IEEE Medal of Honor. This was for his great leadership in developing and making Ethernet a standard.
- The next year, he joined the National Academy of Engineering. This was for his work on Ethernet.
- In 2003, he received the National Medal of Technology. This was for leading the invention and spread of Ethernet.
- In October 2003, he won the Marconi Award. This was for inventing Ethernet and his law about network usefulness.
- In 2007, Metcalfe was added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. This was for his work with Ethernet.
- In 2008, he received the Fellow Award from the Computer History Museum. This was for his key contributions to Ethernet.
- In March 2023, Metcalfe was given the 2022 Association for Computing Machinery's Turing Award. This was for his work on Ethernet technology.
Internet Prediction
In 1995, Metcalfe said that the Internet would "collapse" the next year. He promised to "eat his words" if it did not happen. At a conference in 1997, he kept his promise. He put a printed copy of his column into a blender with liquid. Then he drank the mixture. He had suggested having his words printed on a large cake. But the audience did not accept that way of "eating his words."
Selected Writings
- "Packet Communication", MIT Project MAC Technical Report MAC TR-114, December 1973
- "Zen and the Art of Selling", Technology Review, May/June 1992
See also
In Spanish: Robert Metcalfe para niños
