Adrian V. Stokes

Adrian V Stokes (25 June 1945 – 7 April 2020)¹ was a British computer scientist who was an Internet pioneer and worked on the first implementation of email in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

Stokes earned a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry at University College London (UCL) and he then went on to specialise in computer science.²¹

In 1973, whilst a research assistant at UCL's Institute of Computer Science, Stokes was involved with a research team led by Peter Kirstein who were working on ARPANET, the experimental computer network of the United States Department of Defense. ARPANET became the Internet in the mid-1970s, and one of Stokes' responsibilities was the first implementation of email in the United Kingdom,³⁴ as well as early monitoring software for the interconnection of the ARPANET with British academic networks, the first international heterogenous computer network.⁵

He contributed to a number of books on communication protocols and computer networking from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.⁶⁷⁸

Stokes had spina bifida,² and campaigned on behalf of people with disabilities for decades. He was the president of Disabled Motoring UK.⁹

Stokes was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to disabled people in 1983.²

He was included on a Stanford University "Birth of the Internet" plaque, recognising him as an Internet pioneer.²