In March/April: Bob Taylor, A Founding Father Of The Internet

By randyramirez in Blog on February 25, 2010 at 10:55 am | No Comments

The March/April Alcalde arrived hot of the presses at the Alumni Center this morning. Check your mailbox for yours!

One of the stellar — stellar! — features inside is the story of Bob Taylor, BA ’57, MA ’64, Life Member, written by yours truly.

Back in the ’60s when computers filled rooms and did nothing more than spit out calculations, Taylor envisioned them working interactively with people and other computers — like they do today. 

As an employee at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency he pushed for the development of ARPAnet, which became the predecessor of the Internet. 

As modest as Taylor is in person, it’s hard to deny his impact on modern technology — especially after reading this paper he wrote with fellow computer guru JCR Licklider.

It basically outlines the Internet as it is used today. And it was written in 1968. 

One thing Taylor failed to mention until after the issue had gone to press was his destiny for greatness. 

Readers of the San Antonio Express in 1937 would not be surprised at the success Taylor went on to. He was featured on the front page of the paper that year as a 5-year-old genius.

Taylor’s father taught at the University of San Antonio and one of the psychology professors there gave Taylor the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test.

“Little Bobby” scored 154. A 140 is considered a genius rating — something less than 1 percent of U.S. children earned, the paper reported. 

The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History’s microfilm archives confirmed the story (see right).

Read more about Taylor in “Computer Guru,” and let us know what you think at alcaldeletters@alumni.utexas.edu.