David L. Mills: Difference between revisions

David L. Mills
David L. Mills
	Mills in 2005
Born	David Lennox Mills; June 3, 1938; Oakland, California, U.S.
Died	January 17, 2024 (aged 85); Newark, Delaware, U.S.
Education	University of Michigan (BS, MS, PhD);
Known for	Network Time Protocol; Exterior Gateway Protocol;
Awards	IEEE Internet Award (2013);
	Scientific career
Fields	Computer science;
Institutions	University of Delaware
Website	www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills

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David Lennox Mills (June 3, 1938 – January 17, 2024) was an American computer engineer and professor emeritus at the University of Delaware.^[1] He was an Internet pioneer who led the Gateway Algorithms and Data Structures (GADS) Task Force. He was known as the internet's "Father Time"^[2] for designing the Network Time Protocol, which is intended to synchronize all participating computers across different computer systems and networks to within a few milliseconds of Coordinated Universal Time.

Early life and education

David Lennox Mills was born in Oakland, California, on June 3, 1938.^[2]^[3] His mother, Adele (née Dougherty), was a pianist, and his father, Alfred, was an engineer.^[4]^[3] He had glaucoma since birth, but a surgeon saved some of the vision in his left eye when he was a child.^[2] He attended a school in San Mateo, California, for the visually impaired.^[5]

Mills earned his PhD in Computer and Communication Sciences from the University of Michigan in 1971.^[5] While at Michigan, he worked on the ARPA-sponsored Conversational Use of Computers (CONCOMP) project and developed DEC PDP-8-based hardware and software to allow terminals to be connected over phone lines to an IBM 360 mainframe.^[6]^[7]

Career

In 1977, Mills began working at COMSAT on synchronizing the clocks of computers connected to ARPANET, inventing the Network Time Protocol (NTP).^[5]^[8]^[9] NTP is intended to synchronize all participating computers to within a few milliseconds of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).^[10] He told The New Yorker in 2022 that he enjoyed working on synchronized time because no one else was working on it, giving him his own "little fief".^[5] In the mid-2000s, Mills turned over full control of the NTP reference implementation to Harlan Stenn.^[5]

Mills was a contributor to the standards and software that came to be the Internet. He was the chairman of the Gateway Algorithms and Data Structures Task Force (GADS) and the first chairman of the Internet Architecture Task Force.^[11] He invented the DEC LSI-11-based Fuzzball router that was used for the 56 kbit/s NSFNET (1985),^[12] and inspired the author of ping.^[13] He authored 28 RFCs,^[14] including two Internet Standards.^[15]

In 1999, he was inducted as a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, and in 2002, he was inducted as a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for contributions to network protocols and network timekeeping in the development of the Internet.^[16] In 2008, Mills was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for contributions to Internet timekeeping and the development of the Network Time Protocol. In 2013 he received the IEEE Internet Award "for significant leadership and sustained contributions in the research, development, standardization, and deployment of quality time synchronization capabilities for the Internet."^[17]

Mills was a professor emeritus at the University of Delaware, where he was a full professor from 1986 to 2008.^[5] He subsequently held an adjunct appointment at Delaware so that he could continue to teach.^[18]

Personal life

Mills married Beverly Csizmadia in 1965.^[4]

Mills was an amateur radio operator, with callsign W3HCF.^[2]^[19]^[20]

His vision began worsening around 2012, and by 2022 he was fully blind.^[5] Mills died in Newark, Delaware, on January 17, 2024, at age 85. He was survived by his wife, his daughter Leigh, his son Keith and his brother Gregory.^[2]^[4]^[3]^[21]

References

^ David L. Mills. "Biography and Credentials". David L. Mills, PhD, Professor. University of Delaware. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Proven, Liam (January 23, 2024). "David Mills, the internet's Father Time, dies at 85". www.theregister.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Vynck, Gerrit De (January 26, 2024). "David Mills, the internet's 'father time,' dies at 85". The Washington Post.
^ ^a ^b ^c Risen, Clay (January 26, 2024). "David L. Mills, Who Kept the Internet Running on Time, Dies at 85". The New York Times.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Hopper, Nate (September 30, 2022). "The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
^ The Data Concentrator Archived January 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, David Mills, May 1968, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
^ System/360 interface engineering report Archived January 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, D. L. Mills, November 1967, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
^ RFC 778: DCNET Internet Clock Service, D. L. Mills, COMSAT Laboratories, April 18, 1981
^ RFC 958: Network Time Protocol (NTP) Archived January 20, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, D. L. Mills, M/A-COM Linkabit, September 1985
^ David L. Mills (2006). Computer Network Time Synchronization: The Network Time Protocol. Taylor & Francis. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8493-5805-0. Archived from the original on July 18, 2014.
^ John S. Quarterman (1990). Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide (2 ed.). Digital Press. pp. 185–186. ISBN 1555580335.
^ "Fuzzball: The Innovative Router" Archived May 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, web page on NSF's "The Internet: Changing the Way We Communicate" Archived May 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ "The Story of the PING Program". ftp.arl.army.mil. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
^ "RFC Index". Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
^ "Official Internet Protocol Standards". Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
^ "IEEE Fellows 2002 | IEEE Communications Society". Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
^ "IEEE Internet Award Recipients: 2013 – David Mills" Archived September 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, IEEE Web site, accessed January 27, 2013
^ "David L. Mills, PhD, Professor". Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
^ Dave Mills Personal Stuff Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Web page, University of Delaware
^ "Amateur License – W3HCF – Mills, David L" Archived June 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, FCC Universal Licensing System
^ Edwards, Benj (January 19, 2024). "Inventor of NTP Protocol that keeps time on billions of devices dies at age 85". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.

External links

A Maze of Twisty, Turney Passages - Routing in the Internet Swamp. Lecture by David L. Mills at the University of Delaware. Given on May 26, 2005.
Oral history interview with David L. Mills, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota. Interview covers Mills' invention of Network Time Protocol, his chairing the Internet Architecture Task Force, and interactions with colleagues including Vinton Cerf, David D. Clark, Jon Postel, Peter Kirstein, and David Farber.
The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time, New Yorker article by Nate Hopper. Popular article on NTP, covering some of the contribution and life of David Mills.

[bio-1] David L. Mills. "Biography and Credentials". David L. Mills, PhD, Professor. University of Delaware. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2022.

[TheRegister-Obit-2] Proven, Liam (January 23, 2024). "David Mills, the internet's Father Time, dies at 85". www.theregister.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.

[WaPoObit-3] Vynck, Gerrit De (January 26, 2024). "David Mills, the internet's 'father time,' dies at 85". The Washington Post.

[NYTObit-4] Risen, Clay (January 26, 2024). "David L. Mills, Who Kept the Internet Running on Time, Dies at 85". The New York Times.

[:0-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Hopper, Nate (September 30, 2022). "The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.

[6] The Data Concentrator Archived January 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, David Mills, May 1968, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

[7] System/360 interface engineering report Archived January 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, D. L. Mills, November 1967, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

[8] RFC 778: DCNET Internet Clock Service, D. L. Mills, COMSAT Laboratories, April 18, 1981

[9] RFC 958: Network Time Protocol (NTP) Archived January 20, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, D. L. Mills, M/A-COM Linkabit, September 1985

[10] David L. Mills (2006). Computer Network Time Synchronization: The Network Time Protocol. Taylor & Francis. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8493-5805-0. Archived from the original on July 18, 2014.

[Quarterman-11] John S. Quarterman (1990). Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide (2 ed.). Digital Press. pp. 185–186. ISBN 1555580335.

[12] "Fuzzball: The Innovative Router" Archived May 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, web page on NSF's "The Internet: Changing the Way We Communicate" Archived May 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

[13] "The Story of the PING Program". ftp.arl.army.mil. Retrieved January 21, 2024.

[14] "RFC Index". Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2024.

[15] "Official Internet Protocol Standards". Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.

[16] "IEEE Fellows 2002 | IEEE Communications Society". Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.

[17] "IEEE Internet Award Recipients: 2013 – David Mills" Archived September 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, IEEE Web site, accessed January 27, 2013

[18] "David L. Mills, PhD, Professor". Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.

[19] Dave Mills Personal Stuff Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Web page, University of Delaware

[20] "Amateur License – W3HCF – Mills, David L" Archived June 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, FCC Universal Licensing System

[21] Edwards, Benj (January 19, 2024). "Inventor of NTP Protocol that keeps time on billions of devices dies at age 85". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.

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@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 | death_place       = [[Newark, Delaware]], U.S.
 | residence         =
-| nationality       = American
 | field             = {{ublist|[[Computer science]]}}
 | work_institutions = [[University of Delaware]]
@@ Line 27: / Line 26: @@
 }}
-'''David Lennox Mills''' (June 3, 1938 – January 17, 2024) was an American [[computer engineering|computer engineer]] and [[professor emeritus]] at the [[University of Delaware]].<ref name=bio/> He was an [[Internet pioneer]] who led the [[Internet Engineering Task Force|Gateway Algorithms and Data Structures]] (GADS) Task Force. He was known as the internet's "Father Time"<ref name="TheRegister-Obit" /> for designing the [[Network Time Protocol]], which is intended to synchronize all participating computers across different computer systems and networks to within a few milliseconds of [[Coordinated Universal Time]].
+'''David Lennox Mills''' (June 3, 1938 – January 17, 2024) was an American [[computer engineering|computer engineer]] and [[professor emeritus]] at the [[University of Delaware]].<ref name=bio/> He was an [[Internet pioneer]] who led the [[Gateway Algorithms and Data Structures]] (GADS) Task Force. He was known as the internet's "Father Time"<ref name="TheRegister-Obit" /> for designing the [[Network Time Protocol]], which is intended to synchronize all participating computers across different computer systems and networks to within a few milliseconds of [[Coordinated Universal Time]].
 == Early life and education ==
 David Lennox Mills was born in [[Oakland, California]], on June 3, 1938.<ref name="TheRegister-Obit" /><ref name="WaPoObit" /> His mother, Adele (née Dougherty), was a pianist, and his father, Alfred, was an engineer.<ref name="NYTObit" /><ref name="WaPoObit" /> He had [[glaucoma]] since birth, but a surgeon saved some of the vision in his left eye when he was a child.<ref name="TheRegister-Obit">{{cite news |last1=Proven |first1=Liam |title=David Mills, the internet's Father Time, dies at 85 |url=https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/23/david_mills_obit/ |access-date=January 25, 2024 |work=www.theregister.com |date=January 23, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> He attended a school in San Mateo, California, for the visually impaired.<ref name=":0" />
-Mills earned his [[PhD]] in Computer and Communication Sciences from the [[University of Michigan]] in 1971.<ref name=":0" /> While at Michigan, he worked on the [[DARPA|ARPA]]-sponsored Conversational Use of Computers (CONCOMP) project and developed [[PDP-8|DEC PDP-8]]-based hardware and software to allow terminals to be connected over phone lines to an [[IBM System/360|IBM 360]] mainframe.<ref>[http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6635 ''The Data Concentrator''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111201453/http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6635 |date=January 11, 2011 }}, David Mills, May 1968, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor</ref><ref>[http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6642 ''System/360 interface engineering report''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111201524/http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6642 |date=January 11, 2011 }}, D. L. Mills, November 1967, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor</ref>
+Mills earned his [[PhD]] in Computer and Communication Sciences from the [[University of Michigan]] in 1971.<ref name=":0" /> While at Michigan, he worked on the [[DARPA|ARPA]]-sponsored Conversational Use of Computers (CONCOMP) project and developed [[DEC PDP-8]]-based hardware and software to allow terminals to be connected over phone lines to an [[IBM 360]] mainframe.<ref>[http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6635 ''The Data Concentrator''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111201453/http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6635 |date=January 11, 2011 }}, David Mills, May 1968, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor</ref><ref>[http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6642 ''System/360 interface engineering report''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111201524/http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/6642 |date=January 11, 2011 }}, D. L. Mills, November 1967, CONCOMP Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor</ref>
 == Career ==
 In 1977, Mills began working at [[COMSAT]] on synchronizing the clocks of computers connected to [[ARPANET]], inventing the [[Network Time Protocol]] (NTP).<ref name=":0"/><ref>[http://tools.ietf.org/pdf/rfc778 RFC 778: ''DCNET Internet Clock Service''], D. L. Mills, COMSAT Laboratories, April 18, 1981</ref><ref>[http://tools.ietf.org/pdf/rfc958 RFC 958: ''Network Time Protocol (NTP)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120235629/https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/pdf/rfc958 |date=January 20, 2024 }}, D. L. Mills, M/A-COM Linkabit, September 1985</ref> NTP is intended to [[synchronize]] all participating computers to within a few [[millisecond]]s of [[Coordinated Universal Time]] (UTC).<ref>{{cite book |author=David L. Mills |title=Computer Network Time Synchronization: The Network Time Protocol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pdTcJBfnbq8C&pg=PA12 |date=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8493-5805-0 |pages=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718092324/http://books.google.com/books?id=pdTcJBfnbq8C&pg=PA12 |archive-date=July 18, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> He told ''[[The New Yorker]]'' in 2022 that he enjoyed working on synchronized time because no one else was working on it, giving him his own "little fief".<ref name=":0" /> In the mid-2000s, Mills turned over full control of the [[Network Time Protocol#Reference implementation|NTP reference implementation]] to [[Harlan Stenn]].<ref name=":0" />
-Mills was a contributor to the standards and software that came to be the Internet. He was the chairman of the [[GADS Task Force|Gateway Algorithms and Data Structures Task Force]] (GADS) and the first chairman of the Internet Architecture Task Force.<ref name="Quarterman"/> He invented the [[PDP-11#LSI-11|DEC LSI-11]]-based [[Fuzzball router]] that was used for the 56 kbit/s [[NSFNET]] (1985),<ref>[http://nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/fuzzball.htm "Fuzzball: The Innovative Router"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520060410/http://nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/fuzzball.htm |date=May 20, 2011 }}, web page on NSF's [http://nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/internet.htm "The Internet: Changing the Way We Communicate"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514043622/http://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/internet.htm |date=May 14, 2011 }}</ref> and inspired the author of [[Ping (networking utility)|ping]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story of the PING Program |url=https://ftp.arl.army.mil/~mike/ping.html |access-date=January 21, 2024 |website=ftp.arl.army.mil}}</ref> He authored 28 [[Request for Comments|RFCs]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc-index.html |title=RFC Index |access-date=January 21, 2024 |archive-date=November 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114181713/https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc-index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
+Mills was a contributor to the standards and software that came to be the Internet. He was the chairman of the [[GADS Task Force|Gateway Algorithms and Data Structures Task Force]] (GADS) and the first chairman of the Internet Architecture Task Force.<ref name="Quarterman"/> He invented the [[PDP-11#LSI-11|DEC LSI-11]]-based [[Fuzzball router]] that was used for the 56&nbsp;kbit/s [[NSFNET]] (1985),<ref>[http://nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/fuzzball.htm "Fuzzball: The Innovative Router"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520060410/http://nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/fuzzball.htm |date=May 20, 2011 }}, web page on NSF's [http://nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/internet.htm "The Internet: Changing the Way We Communicate"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514043622/http://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/internet.htm |date=May 14, 2011 }}</ref> and inspired the author of [[Ping (networking utility)|ping]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story of the PING Program |url=https://ftp.arl.army.mil/~mike/ping.html |access-date=January 21, 2024 |website=ftp.arl.army.mil}}</ref> He authored 28 [[Request for Comments|RFCs]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc-index.html |title=RFC Index |access-date=January 21, 2024 |archive-date=November 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114181713/https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc-index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
 including two [[Internet Standard]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/standards |title=Official Internet Protocol Standards |access-date=January 20, 2024 |archive-date=January 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116092743/https://www.rfc-editor.org/standards |url-status=live}}</ref>
@@ Line 70: / Line 69: @@
 [[Category:University of Delaware faculty]]
 [[Category:American computer scientists]]
-[[Category:1999 Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery‎]]
+[[Category:1999 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery]]
 [[Category:Amateur radio people]]
 [[Category:Internet pioneers]]

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