How to Join the Webinar

The session, held June 7 at 1 p.m. EDT, features a panel of speakers and internet pioneers from between 1983 to 1992, who will give short talks and then give participants the opportunity to ask them questions. No registration is required and the session will be held via Zoom.

Program

The event is moderated by Dennis Jennings, former program director for Networking, National Science Foundation.

1. Tools and Services on the Internet: Ed Krol, author of The Whole Internet Users Guide and Catalog.
   The early 1990s saw a huge explosion — the Internet ‘Big Bang’ — in the usability and usage of the Internet as the web/browser were deployed. Behind that explosion lay years of innovation and development of the tools and services that users needed. This talk explores that earlier period and the factors that coalesced to enable the internet Big Bang to happen.
2. Space Research and NASA, Milo Medin, formerly with NASA Ames
3. Education on the Internet: Yvonne Marie Andres, CEO & co-founder, Global SchoolNet, FrEdMail Network
   The FrEdMail (Free Educational Mail) Network was launched in 1984. In 1993 FrEdMail became Global SchoolNet (GSN). During that same year, GSN received an NSF grant to create a website called “Global Schoolhouse” and introduce CU-SeeMe, an internet conferencing program to provide a living curriculum that made the world a laboratory, promoted a quest for lifelong learning, and established a global community that would benefit education, health care, local government, business, communities, and the home. 
4. Supercomputing from the Desktop Workstation: Larry Smarr, former director, National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA).
   Computational physics drove NSF to create an Office of Advanced Scientific Computing. Within 2 years (1984-86) the Macintosh, NSF Supercomputer Centers, and NSFnet appeared. I will explore their essential interactions and show how the networked personal computer software used to interpret supercomputer output led directly to NSCA Mosaic and the explosion of the WWW.

Speaker Biographies

Dr. Yvonne Marie Andrés (2017 Internet Hall of Fame Inductee) is an e-learning visionary, founder of Free Educational Mail, Global SchoolNet, and Global Schoolhouse. She designs innovative programs that demonstrate the power of online collaboration to engage youth in activities that improve their academic performance and help local communities while connecting them globally to benefit humanity. Named one of the 25 most influential people worldwide in education technology, Andrés received the international “Making a Difference Award” for advancing the status of women and children.

Ed Krol is the original networking manager for the National Center for Supercomputer Applications at the University of Illinois. An early adopter of IP protocols, Krol managed the establishment of the NSFNET prototype and regional networks. To help people connect, he wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Internet (1987), one of the earliest non-technical Internet guides. He followed this with The Whole Internet book series, selling well over a million copies and translated into over a dozen languages.

Larry Smarr was a computational astrophysics pioneer in the 1970s/80s. He later served as NCSA founding director for 15 years, during which NCSA’s PC/Mac software-enabled remote users to interact with supercomputers over the evolving Internet. After serving for the last 20 years as Calit2 founding director, Smarr is currently a UC San Diego Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

Have questions about the event? Email us!