Ethernet inventor Robert M. Metcalfe to receive IEEE's highest honor.

PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 1996--Robert M. Metcalfe, vice president, Technology, International Data Group, Boston, will receive the IEEE Medal of Honor from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) for his leadership in the development and commercialization of Ethernet, the leading local-area network (LAN) technology, now connecting more than 50 million computers worldwide.

Dr. Metcalfe will receive this award from the world's largest technical professional society at the Institute's annual Honors Ceremony, Saturday, June 20 in Montreal.

Ethernet is an international LAN standard (IEEE 802.3) and provides a high-speed path for data to flow between computers. Recent versions have increased operating speeds tenfold from 10 to 100 megabits per second. A low-cost technology, Ethernet enabled the development of distributed systems and led to the routine use of computer networks.

Dr. Metcalfe invented Ethernet, on which he shares four patents, in 1973 while at the Computer Science Laboratory at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. In 1976, he moved to Xerox's Systems Development Division to manage microprocessor and communication developments that led, some years later, to the Xerox Star workstation. In 1979, he left Xerox to promote personal computer local-area networks (PC LANs) and especially Ethernet. He helped bring the Digital Equipment, Intel and Xerox corporations together to promote Ethernet as a standard. In 1979, he also founded 3Com Corporation, now a multi-billion-dollar computer networking company which ships more than a million Ethernet connections per month. Before retiring in 1990, he had served as 3Com's chairman, chief executive officer, president, vice president engineering, vice president sales and marketing, and general manager of various divisions. In March 1992, he joined International Data Group (IDG) as publisher and chief executive officer of the InfoWorld Publishing Company and is now executive correspondent and vice president of technology.

Dr. Metcalfe has bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he is donating the IEEE Medal of Honor's $20,000 cash award to the university's new Systems Design and Management Program. He holds both a master's degree in applied mathematics and a doctorate in computer science from Harvard University.

In 1980, Dr. Metcalfe received the Grace Murray Hopper Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and, in 1988, the Alexander Graham Bell Medal from the IEEE -- both for his invention, standardization and commercialization of local-area networks. He served with the Executive Office of the President's Advisory Committee on Information Networks; was chairman of the Corporation for Open Systems, promoting worldwide computer and telephone networking standards; was a member of the National Research Council's Computer Science and Technology Board; and currently is on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of MIT.

The IEEE has nearly 315,000 members in approximately 150 countries. Through its members, the Institute is a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. -0-

Editors Note: Photos will be available the week of June 24.

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