InternetNZ Four New Zealanders Honoured

In announcing the awards, retiring Chair of InternetNZ, Peter
Dengate Thrush, stated his pleasure that the four were being
acknowledged for the many years work they had contributed to developing
the infrastructure on which the New Zealand economy has come to depend.

Professor John Hine, Chair of the Fellowship Committee of InternetNZ
welcomed the new Fellows, noting that the award includes honorary
membership of the Society.
The citations read:
Rex Croft
"The father of the DNS in New Zealand, he 'put it to bed' every
night for many a year. Rex, with the assistance of other NO'S
demonstrated that you could run an industrial class service with
dedication rather than large dollars. Sometimes described as the "DNS
saint" Rex negotiated policy that angels feared to touch without a
ruffled feather. Rex also provided much of the support for the NZGate
billing system that was a key to sharing the cost of New Zealand's
overseas link."
Frank March
"Frank has been involved in the development of the Internet in New
Zealand since its beginnings. As Director of the Victoria University of
Wellington Computing Services Centre, he fostered its development
amongst the Universities, research institutions, and other
organisations in the Wellington district. This activity contributed
directly to the development of the national Internet backbone and the
development of NetLink.
Frank was active in both the Tuia Society and Kawaihiko. He was a
member of the group that founded ISOCNZ. His more recent contribution
as secretary has been enormous and has been discharged ethically and
responsibly over a number of years."
Donald Neal
"Donald was the first secretary of the Society and was responsible
for drafting many of its rules. To this day he often drops into a
discussion with a "point of order". His contribution to the Society was
not all. As a member of the system development group at Waikato
University he was instrumental in the provision of the archie.nz
service for years, the development of a distributed web caching
strategy, and was a strong supporter of NZNOG. He made further
contributions to SunSite and to UniForumNZ."
Neil James
"Not unlike Jon Postel in appearance and demeanor (but without the
ponytail) Neil James carried an important mantel in the earliest days
of organising the NZ Internet Community. First, there was the TUIA
Society. TUIA was composed of the Universities, the then DSIR, and MAF
(it was a while ago) and was responsible for developing the
collaboration necessary to develop the NZ Internet at the turn of the
decade (1989-1990). Neil chaired TUIA for many years winding, his way
through politically troubled waters. He was then instrumental in
forming ISOCNZ and spent a few years on Council. More recently he has
been involved in attempting to gain support for 'Internet II', a New
Zealand Research and Education Network."
# (pictured Dr Frank March)
Ends
For further information please contact:
Sue Leader, InternetNZ, ph (04) 472 1600 or (021) 673-300
© 2001 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated 20 September 2001