Adrian V. Stokes

Adrian V Stokes (1945 – 2020) was a British computer scientist who was an Internet pioneer and worked on the first implementation of email in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

Education

Stokes earned a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry at University College London (UCL) and he then went on to specialise in computer science.[1][2]

Career

In 1973, whilst a research assistant at UCL's Institute of Computer Science, Stokes was involved with a research team led by Peter Kirstein who were working on ARPANET, the experimental computer network of the United States Department of Defense. ARPANET became the Internet in the mid-1970s, and one of Stokes' responsibilities was the first implementation of email in the United Kingdom,[3][4] as well as early monitoring software for the interconnection of the ARPANET with British academic networks, the first international heterogenous computer network.[5]

He contributed to a number of books on communication protocols and computer networking from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.[6][7][8]

Personal life

Stokes was born on 25 June 1945 and died on 7 April 2020.[2] He had spina bifida,[1] and campaigned on behalf of people with disabilities for decades. He was the president of Disabled Motoring UK.[9]

Awards and honours

Stokes was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to disabled people in 1983.[1]

He was included on a Stanford University "Birth of the Internet" plaque, recognising him as an Internet pioneer.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Dr Adrian V Stokes OBE CSci CChem MRSC". Royal Society of Chemistry. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b Debretts. "Adrian V Stokes Biography". Archived from the original on 11 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Profile: Dr Adrian Stokes OBE". Council on Tribunals. Archived from the original on 10 September 2010.
  4. ^ Abbate, Janet (April 2001), "Silvia Wilbur", IEEE History Center Interview #634, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, I mean, when we actually got it working, and started sending emails—it was one of the first things we started to do. I was probably one of the first people in this country [the United Kingdom] ever to send an email, back in 1974.
  5. ^ Kirstein, P.T. (1999). "Early experiences with the Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom" (PDF). IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 21 (1): 38–44. doi:10.1109/85.759368. ISSN 1934-1547. S2CID 1558618. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2020. [In] 1975 ... there were already some 40 British academic research groups using the link. ... David Bates and Adrian Stokes did most of the early monitoring software.
  6. ^ "Books by Adrian V. Stokes". Amazon.
  7. ^ Stokes, A. V., ed. (1982). Integrated office systems. State of the Art Report. Maidenhead: Pergamon Infotech Ltd. ISBN 978-0-08-028568-9.
  8. ^ Stokes, A. V., ed. (1986). Communications standards. State of the art report. Oxford; New York: Pergamon Infotech. ISBN 978-0-08-034092-0.
  9. ^ "Dr Adrian V Stokes OBE Tribute - News - Disabled Motoring UK". www.disabledmotoring.org. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020.