Contents
Radia Perlman
Inventing the Spanning Tree Protocol, which helped computer networks grow without collapsing into loops.
Spanning tree · Interconnections
- Born
- 18 December 1951
- Birthplace
- Portsmouth, United States
More people
Radia Perlman
Perlman developed ways for networks to organise themselves and route data reliably. Her work also spans security, educational programming and influential textbooks on networking.
Early life
Science and music
Grew up in New Jersey in a family of engineers, with interests in mathematics and music.
MIT education
Studied mathematics at MIT and later completed a computer science doctorate in 1988.
Career
- 1970s
Learning and networks
Worked on child-friendly programming at MIT before moving into network design at BBN.
- 1980
Digital Equipment Corporation
Joined DEC, where she developed major networking protocols.
- 1990s
Broader industry work
Moved to Novell and then Sun Microsystems, continuing research on networking and security.
Contributions
Spanning tree
Published an algorithm that allows bridges to form a loop-free network.
Interconnections
Published a textbook explaining how bridges and routers connect networks.
TRILL
Helped develop the standard combining Ethernet bridging with more efficient routing.
Beyond computing
Programming for children
Her TORTIS project let very young children control a programmable turtle.
Algorithms in verse
Wrote Algorhyme, a poem explaining the logic of spanning trees.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Institutional biography and contributions ↗Photo: Scientist-100 at English Wikipedia. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
