Keith Uncapher, a computer pioneer at the University of Southern California who was a key player in the development of the Internet, died of a heart attack, the university announced. He was 80.
Uncapher, who founded the Information Sciences Institute at USC’s school of engineering in 1972, died on Thursday. Under his tenure as executive director, ISI researchers worked on the development of the Internet’s system of domain names that includes ”.com” ”.net,” ”.org” and other addresses.
”He and his creations were at the centre of the information technology revolution of the 20th century,” said Herbert Schorr, Uncapher’s successor at ISI.
Before forming ISI with a staff of three, Uncapher worked for Rand Corporation in Santa Monica. He was director of Rand?s computer science division, where he led a project on ”packet switching” technology, which breaks down digital messages into parts and sends them over a network to be reassembled at their destination.
”Keith Uncapher was a brilliant pioneer whose work advanced not only USC and its school of engineering, but the whole field of computers,” said USC President Steven Sample.
Born in Denver on April 1, 1922, Uncapher graduated with an electrical engineering degree from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and served for four years in the US Navy during World War II. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998. In 1986, Uncapher co-founded the not-for-profit Corporation for National Research Initiatives in Reston, Virginia, where he was senior vice president.
Uncapher lived in Playa del Ray. He is survived by his wife, Doris, and two sons. – Sapa-AP