Jon Postel
Internet pioneer who managed IANA and edited the RFC series
- Lived
- 55 yrs
- 1943 – 1998
- Works listed
- 2
- Standard
- Honours
- 3
- Most recent 2012
- Profile views
- 1
- 0 followers
Jon Postel was an American computer scientist who, for nearly three decades, edited the Request for Comments documents that define internet standards and managed the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). His “robustness principle” guides protocol design.
Biography
UCLA
Postel studied at UCLA and was in Leonard Kleinrock’s lab when the first ARPANET node was installed in 1969.
RFC editor
From 1969 until his death he edited the RFC series and wrote or co-wrote many core standards, including those for IP, TCP, SMTP email and the Domain Name System’s early design.
IANA
At the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute he ran IANA, allocating IP addresses and managing top-level domains — tasks so central that he was sometimes called the internet’s “God”.
Robustness principle
His rule, “be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others”, became known as Postel’s law. He died in 1998 shortly after the creation of ICANN to take over IANA’s work.
Timeline
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1943
Born in Altadena, California, United States
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1969
UCLA ARPANET team
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1969
Begins editing RFCs
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1981
RFC 791 (IP) and RFC 793 (TCP)
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1982
SMTP standard
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1988
IANA formalised
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1998
Dies; ICANN founded
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1998
Died, aged 55
Notable works
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1981
RFC 791: Internet Protocol Standard
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1982
RFC 821: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Standard
Awards and honours
-
SIGCOMM Award
1997
-
EFF Pioneer Award
1999
-
Internet Hall of Fame
2012
Did you know?
-
1
In 1998 he redirected half the internet’s root servers as a “test”, causing controversy.
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2
The Internet Society’s Postel Service Award is named after him.
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3
RFC 2468, “I Remember IANA”, by Vint Cerf, is his obituary.
Connections
Related people
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Vint Cerf
Science · Co-designer of TCP/IP and one of the “fathers of the internet”
Fellow internet pioneer
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Leonard Kleinrock
Science · UCLA scientist whose lab sent the first message over the ARPANET
Worked in his lab
-
Steve Crocker
Technology · Internet pioneer who wrote the first Request for Comments
Fellow UCLA ARPANET student
Also born on 6 August
-
Nat Friedman
Technology · Former GitHub CEO who launched Copilot and now leads product at Meta Superintelligence Labs
1977
-
Kevin Mitnick
Technology · Once America’s most-wanted hacker, later a security consultant
1963
-
Travis Kalanick
Technology · Co-founder and former CEO of Uber
1976
-
John Collison
Technology · Irish co-founder and president of Stripe
1990
Frequently asked
Who is Jon Postel?
Jon Postel was an American computer scientist who, for nearly three decades, edited the Request for Comments documents that define internet standards and managed the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). His “robustness principle” guides protocol design.
When did Jon Postel die?
Jon Postel died on 16 October 1998 at the age of 55.
Where is Jon Postel from?
Jon Postel was born in Altadena, California, United States.
What is Jon Postel known for?
Jon Postel is best known for Editor of the Request for Comments (RFC) series; IANA; Postel’s robustness principle; DNS.
What awards has Jon Postel received?
Notable honours include SIGCOMM Award (1997), EFF Pioneer Award (1999), Internet Hall of Fame (2012).
References
- Jon Postel — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Jon Postel — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. www.postel.org. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Jon Postel (Q92623) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Jon Postel”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Jon Postel.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/jon-postel
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