Inventor of NTP Protocol, Dr. David L. Mills, Passes Away at Age 85

Dr. David L. Mills, the inventor of Network Time Protocol (NTP), peacefully passed away at the age of 85 on January 17, 2024. The news was announced by Vint Cerf, an Internet pioneer, in a post on the Internet Society mailing list. Dr. Mills' contribution to the early Internet was considered iconic by Cerf.

In 1985, Dr. Mills created NTP to address the challenge of synchronizing time across different computer systems and networks. With computers and servers scattered worldwide, each having its own clock, a globally standardized and accurate timekeeping system was crucial. NTP provided the solution by enabling computers to synchronize their clocks to a common time source. This synchronization plays a vital role in data integrity and network security, ensuring accuracy in financial transactions and timestamps for logging and monitoring network activities.

Dr. Mills first recognized the need for synchronized time across computer networks during his involvement with ARPANET in the 1970s. His solution allowed computers to align, achieving synchronization within tens of milliseconds. Today, NTP operates on billions of devices worldwide and serves as a fundamental component of modern digital infrastructure.

Over the years, Dr. Mills faced challenges in maintaining and evolving the NTP protocol as the Internet expanded in scale and complexity. His achievements shed light on the crucial role of open source software developers. Due to his visual impairment, he handed over control of the protocol to Harlan Stenn in the 2000s.

In addition to NTP, Dr. Mills made notable contributions to internet architecture. He invented the "Fuzzball router" for NSFNET, one of the first modern routers based on the DEC PDP-11 computer. He also created one of the earliest implementations of FTP and played a key role as the first chairman of the Internet Architecture Task Force.

Dr. Mills' work was widely recognized, earning him several prestigious accolades such as being named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery in 1999 and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2002. He was also honored with the IEEE Internet Award in 2013 for his contributions to network protocols and timekeeping in the development of the Internet.

Dr. Mills obtained his Ph.D. in Computer and Communication Sciences from the University of Michigan in 1971. At the time of his passing, he was an emeritus professor at the University of Delaware. He retired in 2008 after serving as a professor there for 22 years. Dr. Mills' impact on the internet and his pioneering work in time synchronization will continue to shape the digital landscape for years to come.