Editing Jon Postel (section)

{{Short description|American computer scientist and Internet pioneer (1943–1998)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Jon Postel
| image             = Jon Postel sitting in office (cropped).jpg
| caption           =
| birth_date        = {{birth date|mf=yes|1943|08|06}}
| birth_place       = [[Altadena, California]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1998|10|16|1943|08|06}}
| death_place       = [[Santa Monica, California]], U.S.
| citizenship       = 
| ethnicity         = 
| fields            = [[Computer science]]
| workplaces        = 
| education         = [[University of California, Los Angeles]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Dave Farber]]
| academic_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = [[Request for Comments|Request for Comment]]<br/>[[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]]<br/>[[Robustness principle|Postel's Law]]
| prizes            = [[Internet Hall of Fame]] Pioneer, Posthumous Recipient (2012), ACM [[SIGCOMM Award]] (1997),<ref name=SIGCOMM97>{{cite web|url=http://sigcomm.org/awards/sigcomm-awards/postel-and-pouzin-award-details|title=Postel and Pouzin: 1997 SIGCOMM Award Winners|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref> ITU Silver Medal (1998),<ref name=ITU98>{{cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press_releases/1998/26.html|title=Jon Postel awarded ITU silver medal at INET '98 for his central role in the success story of the Internet|date=22 July 1998|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref> ISOC Jonathan B. Postel Service Award (1999, posthumous)<ref name="ISOC99">{{cite web|url=https://www.internetsociety.org/grants-and-awards/postel-service-award/ten-year-tribute-jon-postel/|title=A ten year tribute to Jon Postel: An Internet visionary|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref>
| author_abbrev_bot = 
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| awards            = 
| religion          = 
| signature         = 
| footnotes         =  
}}

'''Jonathan Bruce Postel''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|s|t|ɛ|l}}; August 6, 1943 – October 16, 1998) was an American [[computer scientist]] who made many significant contributions to the development of the [[Internet]], particularly with respect to [[Internet Standard|standards]]. He is known principally for being the Editor of the [[Request for Comments|Request for Comment]] (RFC) document series, for [[Simple Mail Transfer Protocol]] (SMTP), and for administering the [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] (IANA) until his death.

During his lifetime he was referred to as the "god of the Internet"<ref>{{cite news |title=Postel Disputes |newspaper=The Economist |date=8 February 1997 |volume=343 |issue=8453 |quote= God, at least in the West, is often represented as a man with a flowing beard and sandals... if the Net does have a god, he is probably Jon Postel, a man who matches that description to a T. Mr. Postel's claim to cyber-divinity, besides his appearance, is that he is the chairman and, in effect, the sole member of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the organization that coordinates almost all Internet addresses.}}</ref><ref>[[q:Jon Postel]]</ref> for his comprehensive influence; Postel himself noted that this "compliment" came with a barb, the suggestion that he should be replaced by a "professional," and responded with typical self-effacing matter-of-factness: "Of course, there isn’t any 'God of the Internet.' The Internet works because a lot of people cooperate to do things together."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Duhanic |first1=Mario |title=Thanks, Jon and John! About Gods and Knights. |url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thanks-jon-john-gods-knights-mario-duhanic |date=8 February 2018}}</ref>