Henning Schulzrinne Inducted to Internet Hall of Fame

Aug 07 2013 | By Melanie A. Farmer

Technology pioneer Henning Schulzrinne is once again all over the Net.

Henning Schulzrinne

Schulzrinne, who is Julian Clarence Levi Professor of Mathematical Methods and Computer Science at the Engineering School, has been inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as a leading innovator. Schulzrinne is being recognized for co-developing the key protocols that enable Voice over Internet Protocol, known widely as VoIP, and other significant multimedia applications, including real-time web streaming and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which sets up and configures VoIP telephony communications in businesses.

Schulzrinne is one of 32 individuals who have been selected for the Hall of Fame this year by the Internet Society. Visionaries, innovators, and leaders around the world—from engineers to entrepreneurs—gathered Aug. 3 in Berlin, Germany, where they were officially inducted and honored at the Society’s annual awards ceremony.

Since December of 2011, Schulzrinne has served as the chief technology officer for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In this role, he guides the FCC’s work on technology and engineering issues, together with the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology. He advises on matters across the agency to ensure that FCC policies are driving technological innovation, including serving as a resource to FCC Commissioners, and is helping the FCC engage with technology experts outside the agency and promote technical excellence among agency staff.

At Columbia Engineering, Schulzrinne is also a professor of electrical engineering and former chair of the computer science department. His research interests include Internet multimedia systems, applied network engineering, quality of service, and performance evaluation.

Schulzrinne received his undergraduate degree in economics and electrical engineering from the Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany; his master’s degree as a Fulbright Scholar from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio; and his PhD from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Before joining Columbia in 1996, he was a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, and an associate department head at GMD-Fokus (Berlin). He is a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and former member of the Internet Architecture Board.

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