Leonard Kleinrock

Biosketch

Leonard Kleinrock is Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He served as Chairman of the department from 1991-1995. As a graduate student at MIT, he developed the mathematical theory of data networks, the technology underpinning the Internet. He received his BEE degree as a night session student from CCNY in 1957 while working full time as an assistant electrical engineer. He received his MS (1959) and his Ph.D. (1963) degrees from MIT. He is the recipient of a number of Honorary Doctorates. He was the first President and Co-founder of Linkabit Corporation, co-founder of Nomadix, Inc., and Founder and Chairman of TTI/Vanguard. He has authored six books and published over 250 papers on a wide array of subjects, including packet switching networks, packet radio networks, nomadic computing, performance evaluation, and blockchain technology. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the ACM, the IEC, INFORMS, the Computer History Museum and a Guggenheim Fellow. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Eta Kappa Nu (Eminent Member), and the Internet Hall of Fame. Among his many awards are the National Medal of Science, the Ericsson Prize, the Okawa Prize, the NAE Charles Stark Draper Prize, the Marconi Prize, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, the Dan David Prize, the NEC C&C Prize, and numerous IEEE, ACM, UCLA and CCNY prizes and awards.

Research Interests

Professor Kleinrock’s main focus has been on developing and applying mathematics for the performance evaluation of computer networks and for computer systems of all kinds. Early on, he introduced the use of queueing theory as the principal mathematical tool for digital systems evaluation and optimization and his two early books on the theory and application of queueing theory are now classics in the field. He is best known for having developed the mathematical theory of data networks, the technology underpinning the Internet. In that early work, he also modeled the packetization of messages and solved for a key performance gain that packetization provides. His studies provided a model for the Arpanet design. The birth of the Internet occurred in his UCLA laboratory (3420 Boelter Hall) when his Host computer became the first node of the Internet in September 1969 and it was from there that he directed the transmission of the first message to pass over the Internet on October 29, 1969. He continues to develop mathematical models to study networks of all kinds and to apply these techniques for optimal network performance. Dr. Kleinrock has supervised the research for over 50 Ph.D. students who form a core group of the world's most advanced networking experts. Through the UCLA Connection Laboratory that he recently founded, he continues to develop mathematical models to study networks of all kinds and to apply these techniques for optimal network behavior while he continues to teach, and supervise Ph.D. students.