Image: Wikimedia Commons

Jon Postel

American computer scientist (1943–1998)

PersonDied aged 55humanQ92623

Also known as Jonathan B. Postel · Jonathan Postel · Jonathan Bruce Postel

Born: August 6, 1943
1
Sources
1.nndb.com/lists/508/000063319/
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Died: October 16, 1998
Birthplace: Altadena
3
Sources
1.opensource.apple.com/source/misc_cmds/misc_cmds-18/calendar/calendars/calendar.birthday
2.news.usc.edu/9865/Jon-Postel-Internet-Pioneer-Dies-at-55/
3.opensource.apple.com/source/misc_cmds/misc_cmds-31/calendar/calendars/calendar.birthday
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Place of death: Santa Monica
1
Sources
1.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/spring99/Postel/postel.html
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Citizenship: United States
1
Sources
1.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2009.01455.x/pdf
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Occupation: computer scientist
3
Sources
1.huffingtonpost.com/jeanchristophe-nothias/internet-governance_b_3435812.html
2.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01972240290074959
3.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/12/19/hackers-are-going-after-the-internets-very-infrastructure-heres-why-that-matters/
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, engineer
Education: Van Nuys High School
1
Sources
1.Stated in RFC 2468: I REMEMBER IANA
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, University of California, Los Angeles(until 1966)
, University of California, Los Angeles(until 1968)
+1 more

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Jonathan Bruce Postel was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards. He is known principally for being the editor of the Request for Comment (RFC) document series, for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and for administering the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) until his death.

Overview

Life at a glance

Positions, education, employers and awards over time

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Author of

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Discovered

1 linked to Jon Postel in Wikidata

DDaytime Protocolcomputer text protocol for viewing clock time

Named after them

2 linked to Jon Postel in Wikidata

Founded

1 linked to Jon Postel in Wikidata

IInternet Assigned Numbers Authority1981 · standards organization overseeing IP addresses

All data

46 statements · 22% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Website: postel.org/jon-postel
Given name: Jonathan
1
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2015-08-13
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Bruce
Awards: Internet Hall of Fame(2012)
1
Sources
1.internethalloffame.org/inductee/jon-postel/
View statement on Wikidata ↗
EFF Award(1999)
1
Sources
1.“EFF Awards: Past Winners”eff.org/awards/past-winnersRetrieved 2025-06-08
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Jonathan B. Postel Service Award(1999)
SIGCOMM Award(1997)
Residence: United States
Doctoral advisor: David J. Farber
Field of work: information technology
Internet
Family name: Postel

On other databases

19 identifiers linking Jon Postel across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

22%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 6, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Jon Postel (Q92623). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/jon-postel-Q92623