On 6 November 2024, Sally Wentworth spoke in the plenary session of the 121st meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Dublin, Ireland, to announce the recipients of the Itojun Service award and the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award. The slides that go with her remarks are available from the IETF website. The remarks below are as prepared.
Good afternoon! I’m Sally Wentworth and I am delighted to be here today to honor some truly remarkable individuals. Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked with many of you, particularly helping educate policymakers about what happens here at the IETF and the importance of the standards you create there—and more recently, as the liaison from the Internet Society to the IAB.
Today, I am here as the President and CEO of the Internet Society and the Internet Society Foundation, and it is my great honor to present the ItoJun Service Award and the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award.
Itojun Service Award
[SLIDE]
First I will begin with the 2024 Itojun Service Award.
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The Itojun Service Award is named after Dr. Jun-ichiro “Itojun” Hagino. After he passed away in 2007 and the age of only 37, this service award was established by friends of “Itojun” and administered by the Internet Society. Itojun worked as a Senior Researcher at Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ), and he was a member of the board of the Widely Integrated Distributed Environment (“WIDE”) project.
The award is focused on technical contributions related to the development or operation of IPv6 networking, keeping with the spirit of servicing the Internet.
The recipients are chosen by an award selection committee composed of former Itojun awardees and other members of the technical community including people well-known within the IETF such as Ole Jacobsen, Randy Bush, and Bob Hinden.
[SLIDE]
The award was presented from 2009-2012 and this year the committee decided to conclude the award as IPv6 deployment has become increasingly driven by organizations versus individuals.
And so the final award is presented to….
[SLIDE]
Jen Linkova!
Many of you here will know very well of Jen’s longtime advocacy for IPv6. The words of the committee were that she was selected “for her tireless and selfless efforts to make IPv6 more deployable in enterprise networks”
[Jen accepted the award and said a few words]
Please join me in congratulating Jen!
Jonathan B. Postel Service Award
[SLIDE]
Turning now to an award with which many of you are familiar – the 2024 Jonathan B. Postel Service Award
[SLIDE]
As I do not need to remind many of you, Jon Postel played a critical role in the formation of the RFC series that we are all here this week to develop. He *was* “IANA” in those early days – and was involved with the IAB, IRTF – and was the first actual individual member of the Internet Society in 1992.
[SLIDE]
The Jonathan B. Postel Service Award is presented annually to an individual or organization that has made outstanding and sustained contributions in service to the Internet community.
The selection criteria are focused on three aspects, which reflect Postel’s service to the Internet community:
- Technical Contributions.
- Leadership.
- Service to the Community.
The selection committee is made up of former Postel awardees, many of whom are well known within the IETF.
Because the committee did not select an awardee last year, they decided to give two awards this year. The first recipient of the 2024 Jonathan B Postel Service Award is…
[SLIDE]
Dr. Stephen Crocker
As some of you may be aware, Steve worked directly with Jon Postel and was the author of the very first RFC 1, along with many other documents of that time. He was nominated for his many contributions to the Internet and its predecessor, the ARPANET. He was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2012 and has continued to be actively involved in Internet-related activity, particularly around DNS and security, and has served in many leadership capacities within ICANN.
Please join me in congratulating Dr Stephen Crocker!
[Steve accepted the award and said a few words]
Our second receipient of the 2024 Jonathan B Postel Service Award is…
[SLIDE]
Dr. Xing Li
Dr. Li was nominated for his contributions to Internet development in China, Asia Pacific, and globally. Professor Li is deputy director of China Education and Research Network (CERNET) Center and is one of the pioneers of the Internet deployment in China. He was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2021. He served on the IAB, authored 11 RFCs, and is actively contributing right now to a number of IETF drafts around IPv6 and routing. Unfortunately Dr. Li was unable to travel to IETF 121, but he provided some remarks via video.
[A video was played from Xing Li]
Again, congratulations to both Dr. Crocker and Dr. Li for the Postel Service Award and to Jen Linkova for the Itojun Service Award.
I would ask you also to think about people who have provided service to our technical community for future awards. We will be calling for nominations for the 2025 Jonathan B Postel Service Award in the spring of 2025.
Thank you all for all you do.