Radia Perlman is an American computer scientist who is best known for her contributions to the development of computer networking and the invention of the spanning-tree protocol (STP), which is widely used in network bridges and switches.
Perlman was born in New Jersey in 1951 and grew up in New York City. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from MIT and a PhD in computer science from the University of Washington. After completing her doctoral studies, she joined Digital Equipment Corporation's Systems Research Center, where she began working on network protocols.
In the 1980s, Perlman invented the spanning-tree protocol (STP), which is a crucial component of modern computer networks. STP allows network administrators to create redundant paths in a network without causing data loops or other problems, improving the reliability and efficiency of the network.
Perlman has also made significant contributions to the development of the Internet and the creation of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which is responsible for developing and maintaining the technical standards for the Internet. She has been awarded numerous honors for her work, including the Association for Computing Machinery's SIGCOMM Award and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Perlman is also an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the technology industry, and has spoken out about the importance of encouraging women and other underrepresented groups to pursue careers in computer science and engineering. She continues to work in the field of computer networking and is currently employed as a Fellow at Dell EMC.