Internet2 Names Steve Corbató of Link Oregon Winner of 2022 Rose-Werle Award

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Corbató is recognized for nearly three decades of dedication to advancing broadband services for U.S. education, research, healthcare, public sector, and community anchors

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 3, 2022 – Internet2 today announced that Steven Corbató, executive director of Link Oregon, is the recipient of the 2022 Rose-Werle Award. The award recognizes leaders who have made extraordinary contributions to expanding broadband services access in support of community anchor institutions and increased educational opportunities for all.

Corbató will be honored at the Internet2 Community Anchor Program’s virtual award ceremony at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 26.

“In the state of Oregon and across the U.S., Steve’s extraordinary dedication to expanding broadband capabilities and equitable access continues to leave a lasting impact,” said Ana Hunsinger, vice president of community engagement at Internet2. “Steve is a trusted colleague and inspiring leader who embodies the spirit of the research and education community – recognizing both shared challenges and promising opportunities, cultivating strong partnerships to rally support, and driving progress to bolster the diverse communities that Link Oregon serves under his leadership. From his days at Internet2 and beyond, Steve has been a great collaborator and advocate for research and education networks worldwide. It is a true honor to recognize and celebrate Steve Corbató as the 2022 Rose-Werle Award winner.”

For nearly three decades, Corbató has dedicated his career to the development and deployment of advanced research and education networks serving K-12, higher education, healthcare, libraries, tribal communities, and the public sector.

In 2018, he became the first executive director of Link Oregon, a member-based consortium of the Oregon State Government (through its Enterprise Information Services unit) and Oregon’s four largest research universities: Oregon Health and Science University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, and the University of Oregon. In this role, he has engaged with the many communities and institutions that comprise Oregon’s broadband ecosystem and orchestrated the implementation and expansion of an operational middle-mile broadband network for the state’s non-profit and public sector anchor institutions.

Corbató co-chaired the ad hoc committee that produced the Oregon Broadband Middle Mile Futures Report in 2021, which informed the state’s recently passed legislation for comprehensive broadband expansion using state and federal funding opportunities.

“Steve Corbató is a strategic and passionate leader who has intentionally and diligently assembled, built, and nurtured a diverse and reliable professional network of individuals dedicated to strategic broadband initiatives,” said Andrea Ballinger, vice provost and CIO at Oregon State University and chair of the Link Oregon Board of Directors. “Having operationalized a coalition of like-minded and passionate professionals representing key stakeholder groups, Steve has mobilized and empowered a network focused on solving the digital divide, an impasse that has beset our country, and one which requires a nuanced perspective to address the unique challenges facing the State of Oregon.”

Before joining Link Oregon, Corbató held leadership positions at the Oregon Health and Science University, University of Utah, and Internet2, along with earlier technical roles at the University of Washington and NorthWestNet. He was a member of the steering group that developed the Washington State K-20 Education Network, which connects all segments of public and higher education in the state. Later, he served on several governing and advisory groups for the Utah Education and Telehealth Network with similar statewide reach.

Louis Fox, president and CEO of CENIC in California, credits Corbató across all of these roles for working “assiduously and creatively to ensure that the mission of broadband access and equity complemented the leading-edge mission of research and education networks. Steve has been among the most dynamic leaders in democratizing access to advanced networks, and his work and ethos are at the core of the Rose-Werle Award.”

In total, more than 20 peers, colleagues, and collaborators across the U.S. contributed statements in support of Corbató’s nomination for the Rose-Werle Award, some of whom have worked with him since the beginning of his networking career in the mid-1990s. The common thread among them – noted Ann Marcus and Molly Thurston of Link Oregon who quietly gathered the statements to surprise him if he won – is Corbató’s powerful ability to bridge divides – public- and private-sector; technical and political; urban, rural, and tribal – and form partnerships that produce tangible results.

About the Rose-Werle Award

The Rose-Werle Award is named in honor of Richard Rose (1947-2007) and James Werle (1971-2018), early contributors to and leaders in the national Internet2 K20 Initiative, now part of the Internet2 Community Anchor Program. Rose and Werle embodied the true spirit of the Internet2 community, tirelessly advocating for extending the Internet2 network and advanced technologies to students at all levels, to libraries, and to community institutions – to broaden and deepen opportunities in learning, scholarship, and science. The award is given annually based on criteria such as commitment to the mission and vision of the Internet2 Community Anchor Program, recognized innovation in the community, and leadership and mentoring qualities. For more information, visit https://internet2.edu/community/about-us/awards/rose-werle-award/.

About Internet2

Internet2® is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 serves 323 U.S. universities, 59 government agencies, 46 regional and state education networks and through them supports more than 80,000 community anchor institutions, over 1,000 InCommon participants, and 54 leading corporations working with our community, and 70 national research and education network operators that represent more than 100 countries.

Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research, and community service missions. Internet2’s core infrastructure components include the nation’s largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework.

Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit https://internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.

Media Contact: 

Amber Rasche
Internet2 Communications
arasche@internet2.edu