Radia Perlman specializes in network and security protocols. She is the inventor of the spanning tree algorithm used by bridges, and the mechanisms that make modern link state protocols efficient and robust. She is the author of two textbooks, and has a PhD from MIT in computer science.
Her thesis on routing in the presence of malicious failures remains the most important work in routing security. She has made contributions in diverse areas such as, in network security, credentials download, strong password protocols, analysis and redesign of IPsec's IKE protocols, PKI models, efficient certificate revocation, and distributed authorization. In routing, her contributions include making link state protocols robust and scalable, simplifying the IP multicast model, and routing with policies.
Education:
* PhD computer science 1988, MIT * MS math 1976, MIT * BA math 1973, MIT
SVIPLA (Silicon Valley Inventor of the year) - (Apr 28, 2004)
Honorary Doctorate, KTH - (Jun 28, 2000)
Again, named as one of the 20 most influential people in the industry in the 25th anniversary issue of Data Communications magazine. (Only person to be named in both issues.) - (Jan 15, 1997)
Named as one of the 20 most influential people in the industry in the 20th anniversary issue of Data Communications magazine. - (Jan 15, 1992)
