About MPU

Professor Leonard Kleinrock is Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Known as “Father of the Internet”, he developed the mathematical theory of packet networks, the technology underpinning the Internet, while a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1960 and 1962. Professor Kleinrock received his PhD degree from MIT in 1963. He has served as a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Los Angelessince then, serving as Chairman of the Department from 1991 to 1995.

Professor Kleinrock's work was further recognized when he received the 2007 National Medal of Science, the highest honour for achievement in science bestowed by the President of the United States. This Medal was awarded “for fundamental contributions to the mathematical theory of modern data networks, for the functional specification of packet switching which is the foundation of the Internet Technology, for mentoring generations of students and for leading the commercialization of technologies that have transformed the world”.

UCLA became the first node of what was known as the ARPANET on September 2nd, 1969, when Professor Kleinrock led a team of engineers in establishing the first network connection between two computers, ushering in a new method of global communication. He has published more than 250 papers and authored six books on a wide array of subjects including queuing theory, packet switching networks, packet radio networks, local area networks, broadband networks, gigabit networks, nomadic computing, intelligent software agents, performance evaluation, and peer-to-peer networks.

Professor Kleinrock is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and a founding member of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council.

Among his many honours, he is the recipient of the L.M. Ericsson Prize, the NAE Charles Stark Draper Prize, the Marconi International Fellowship Award, the Dan David Prize, the Okawa Prize, the IEEE Internet Millennium Award, the ORSA Lanchester Prize, the ACM SIGCOMM Award, the NEC Computer and Communications Award, the Sigma Xi Monie A. Ferst Award, the CCNY Townsend Harris Medal, the CCNY Electrical Engineering Award, the UCLA Outstanding Faculty Member Award, the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award, the UCLA Faculty Research Lecturer, the INFORMS President's Award, the ICC Prize Paper Award, the IEEE Leonard G. Abraham Prize Paper Award, and the IEEE Harry M. Goode Award.