Mockapetris graduated from the prestigious Boston Latin School in 1966, received his bachelor"s degrees in physics and electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1971 and his doctorate in information and computer science from the University of California at Irvine in 1982.
In 1983, he proposed a Domain Name System architecture in Reconstruction Finance Corporation 882 and Reconstruction Finance Corporation 883. He had recognized the problem in the early Internet (then ARPAnet) of holding name to address translations in a single table on a single host, and instead proposed a distributed and dynamic Domain Name System database: essentially Domain Name System as it exists today. He: Reconstruction Finance Corporation 1035 - Domain Names - Implementation and Specification, November 1987 Reconstruction Finance Corporation 1034 - Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities, November 1987 Reconstruction Finance Corporation 973 - Domain System Changes and Observations, January 1986 (obsoleted by 1034 and 1035) Reconstruction Finance Corporation 883 - Domain Names - Implementation and Specification, November 1983 (updated by 973, obsoleted by 1034 and 1035) Reconstruction Finance Corporation 882 - Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities, November 1983 (updated by 973, obsoleted by 1034 and 1035).
Mockapetris is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery. He: joined the Information Sciences Institute (Inter-Services Intelligence) of the University of Southern California ( University of Southern California) in 1978, where he: developed the first SMTP email server, proposed the Domain Name System architecture in 1983, wrote the first Domain Name System implementation (called "Jeeves") for the Total Operations Processing System-20 in 1983, served as director of the high performance computing and communications division; was program manager for networking at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States. Department of Defense from 1990 to 1993; served as chair of the Research Working Group of the United States. Federal Networking Council; served as chair of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) from 1994 to 1996; was a member of the Internet Architecture Board (Institute for Advanced Biosciences) in 1994 and 1995; worked for several Internet-related companies: employee number two at Home (1995–1997), Software.com (1997–1998) (now OpenWave), Fiberlane (now Cisco), Cerent/Siara (now Redback Networks) (1998–1999), Urban Media (1999–2001), and NU Domain (from 1999); is Chief Scientist and Chairman of the Board of Intellectual Property address infrastructure software provider Nominum (1999 to present). 1997 John C. Dvorak Telecommunications Excellence Award "Personal Achievement - Network Engineering" for Domain Name System design and implementation 2002 Distinguished Alumnus award from the University of California, Irvine 2003 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Internet Award for his contributions to Domain Name System 2005 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGCOMM Award for lifetime contribution to the field of communication networks in recognition of his foundational work in designing, developing and deploying the Domain Name System, and his sustained leadership in overall Internet architecture development 2006 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGCOMM Test of Time Paper Award for co-authoring paper "Development of the Domain Name System" 2012 inducted by the Internet Society into the Internet Hall of Fame as an "innovator" 2013 Honoris Causa (honorary degree) by Miguel Hernández University (Alicante, Spain).
Mockapetris is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery. Was a member of the Internet Architecture Board (Institute for Advanced Biosciences) in 1994 and 1995.
