Bradley Fidler
Bradley Fidler, an Internet researcher and historian at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been appointed a visiting scholar at ISI’s Postel Center for Experimental Networking.
Fidler will explore ISI’s past and present Internet contributions, including its contributions to the TCP/IP networking protocol suite, invention of the Domain Name System, and leadership in shepherding and conserving Internet resources. The latter includes the Request for Comments (RFC) series, a developer dialogue that both documented and catalyzed Internet growth, and its assigned parameters.
Fidler’s role during the one-year appointment will include delving into Postel Center archives, identifying Center resources to make available online, and interviewing past and present ISI networking experts. Interviews will extend to Internet pioneers who were or are based outside ISI.
The Postel Center conducts and supports networking and communications research that serves the Internet community. Named for Jonathan Postel, whose vision helped fuel the Internet’s explosive growth over four decades, the center was founded in 2000 with an endowment from Cisco Corporation and other donors. Director Joe Touch is also a research associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering.
Fidler co-founded UCLA’s Internet Research Incubator, where he teaches Internet history and edits the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. He also has curated a UCLA computer networking archive and publishes extensively on internet history. Fidler received his doctorate in history from UCLA and has served on its faculty since 2007. “Brad’s expertise is a terrific fit to exploring both the Postel Center Archives and the broader resources that we can help support,” said Touch. “We look forward to his fresh perspective on Internet history from the unique vantage point of ISI.”
Published on March 7th, 2017
Last updated on June 3rd, 2021
