Robert "Rob" Blokzijl (21 October 1943 – 1 December 2015) was a Dutch physicist and computer scientist at the National Institute for Subatomic Physics (

NIKHEF Nikhef is the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics that performs research in particle physics and astroparticle physics. Amongst others, it is a research partner of the CERN institute in Switzerland and a member of the European Gravitat ...

), and an early internet pioneer. He was founding member and chairman of RIPE, the Réseaux IP Européens (French translation of: Europeans IP Networks), the European Internet Registrar organisation.

Life and work

Born in Amsterdam, Blokzijl graduated from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

in 1970, and received a doctorate in experimental physics from the same university in 1977. Blokzijl had been active in building networks for the particle physics community in Europe. He was founding member and chairman of NIKHEF, the National Institute for Nuclear and High energy physics in the Netherlands. At the Réseaux IP Européens (

RIPE Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE, French for "European IP Networks") is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet. The RIPE community's objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical coo ...

), the European open forum for IP networking, he was spokesperson at its foundation in 1989 and later chaired this forum. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (

RIPE NCC RIPE NCC (''Réseaux IP Européens'' Network Coordination Centre) is the regional Internet registry (RIR) for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with a branch office in Dubai, UAE. ...

) in 1992 as the first

regional Internet registry A regional Internet registry (RIR) is an organization that manages the allocation and registration of Internet number resources within a region of the world. Internet number resources include IP addresses and autonomous system (AS) numbers. ...

(RIR) in the world. In 1999 he also was selected for the

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces ...

Board by the

Address Supporting Organization The Address Supporting Organization (ASO) is a ''supporting organization'' affiliated with ICANN. It was founded in 1999. Its members make up the Address Council. The ASO's web site states that the ASO's purpose "is to review and develop recomme ...

, where he served until December 2002. In 2013 Blokzijl announced his resignation as chairman of RIPE, as per RIPE 68, after being in this position for 25 years. He appointed Hans Petter Holen as his successor. In 2010 Blokzijl was awarded Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. He received this Royal Honour from

Lodewijk Asscher Lodewijk Frans Asscher (; born 27 September 1974) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2016 to 2021 and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. Asscher worked as a ...

, the Acting Mayor of Amsterdam. At the 93rd

IETF The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements and a ...

meeting in 2015, Blokzijl was awarded the ISOC Jonathan B. Postel Service Award. He died on 1 December 2015, aged 72. On 1 December 2016, the RIPE NCC established the Rob Blokzijl Foundation to honour Rob's legacy by recognising and rewarding individuals who make substantial contributions to the development of the internet in the RIPE NCC service region.

References

External links

ICANNWiki entry on Robert Blokzijl

VIDEO of Postel Award announcement
23 July 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Blokzijl, Rob 1943 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Dutch physicists Dutch computer scientists Particle physicists University of Amsterdam alumni Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Scientists from Amsterdam 21st-century Dutch physicists