Steven Huter, director of the UO-based Network Startup Research Center, is being honored with a prestigious international award for his years of work helping bring the internet and computer networks to more than 120 countries around the world.
Huter, a member of the Internet Hall of Fame, received the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award from the Internet Society, a global nonprofit dedicated to the open development, evolution and use of the internet. The award, which includes a $20,000 honorarium and crystal engraved globe, was presented this week at a meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force in Montreal.
"Steve Huter is the quintessential candidate for the Postel Award,” said Vint Cerf, founding president of the Internet Society. “For a quarter of a century, Steve has enabled hundreds of institutions to build and operate new components of the internet. His dedication to this task mirrors Postel's own and continues to this day. Literally millions have benefited from Steve's work.”
Huter, who is also a research associate at the UO, was chosen for the award in recognition of "his leadership and personal contributions at the Network Startup Resource Center that enabled countless others to develop the internet in more than 120 countries." He joined the center in 1993 and has led the development and implementation of programs that provide technical training, equipment and expertise across Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, North America and South America.
"It is a tremendous honor to be acknowledged for helping to advance Jon's vision and philosophy of developing the Internet into a global resource," Huter said. "The most important thing I learned from Jon Postel and the founders of the NSRC is to cultivate a culture of network operators who help each other via technical exchange and resource sharing; this is an effective way to empower more network engineers and enable continuous progress for a community of peers in all regions of the world. Thank you to the NSRC team and all who have contributed over the years towards achieving this objective and enriching the internet."
The Network Startup Resource Center was established in 1992 to provide technical assistance to organizations that set up computer networks in new areas to connect scientists engaged in collaborative research and education. For the past few decades, the center has helped develop internet infrastructure and network operations communities in Africa, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America-Caribbean regions and the Middle East.
The center is partially funded by the International Research Network Connections program of the National Science Foundation and Google, with additional contributions from dozens of public and private organizations.
The Postel Award was established by the Internet Society to honor individuals or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the data communications community. The award is focused on sustained and substantial technical contributions, service to the community, and leadership.
Founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society works through a global community of chapters and members to promote technologies that keep the internet safe and secure, and to advocate for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force.