Paul Baran

Paul Baran (1926–2011) was a Polish American engineer who was a pioneer in the development of computer networks. He invented packet switching techniques, and went on to start several companies and develop other technologies that are an essential part of the Internet and other modern digital communication. Paul Baran was born in Grodno, Second Polish Republic (now part of Belarus) on April 29, 1926. He was the youngest of three children in a Jewish family, with the Yiddish given name "Pesach". His family moved to the United States on May 11, 1928, settling in Boston and later in Philadelphia, where his father, Morris "Moshe" Baran (1884–1979), opened a grocery store. He graduated from Drexel University in 1949 (then called Drexel...