Charles M. Herzfeld is an American scientist and scientific manager, particularly for the United States Government.
Background
Herzfeld was born in Vienna, Austria. He is the nephew of Carl Ferdinand Herzfeld, the accomplished physical chemist (brother of his father, August). After the Nazi takeover of Austria, since they were Catholic Monarchists, he and his mother fled Austria, criss-crossing Europe and two years later emigrated to the United States.
He became an American citizen in the late 1940s.
Education
and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago (1951). While at Chicago, he attended a lecture by John von Neumann about von Neumann"s early work on computers, a lecture which had a profound influence on him.
Career
He is best known for his time as Director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, during which, among other things, he personally took the decision to authorize the creation of the ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the Catholic University of America in Washington, District of Columbia He first worked as a physicist. From 1951 to 1953 at the Ballistic Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland, and from 1953 to 1955 at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, District of Columbia He then spent several years with the National Bureau of Standards.
He moved to Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (or ARPA as it was called at that point) on September 29, 1961 to coordinate the Project Defender program, an early ballistic missile defense program
Herzfeld would stay at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency until 1967, directing the Ballistic Missile Defense Program from 1961 to 1963, then moving on to serve as Assistant Director from 1963 to 1965, and as Director from June, 1965 to March, 1967. After leaving ARPA, he worked for a number of different companies, including the International Telephone And Telegraph Corporation (as Vice President and Director of Research and Technology) from 1967 to 1985, and as Vice Chairman of Aetna, Jacobs, and Ramo Technology Ventures, a high technology venture capital group, from 1985 until 1990.
He returned to the Government in 1990, serving as Director of Defense Research and Engineering from March 12, 1990 to May 18, 1991. He chaired the Nuclear Weapons Council and the Intelligence R&Doctorate Council.
He is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 2012, Herzfeld was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society.
Membership
He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also a member of the Cosmos Club (in Washington District of Columbia), and of the Explorers Club (in New York).
In 2012, Herzfeld was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society.