Nii Narku Quaynor is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

ian scientist and engineer who has played an important role in the introduction and development of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Biography

Quaynor graduated in engineering science from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1972, and received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the

Thayer School of Engineering Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth (Dartmouth Engineering) offers graduate and undergraduate education in engineering sciences at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The school was established in 1867 with funds from ...

in 1973. He then studied Computer Science, obtaining an M.S. from the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

in 1974, and a Ph.D. from the same institution in 1977. He attended the

Kinbu Secondary Technical School Kinbu Secondary Technical School in Ghana has a history which dates back to 1874 in the era of Governor Rowe. The school was set up to make provision for the mulattoes who found it difficult to mix with the whites at that time. It was told that ...

, Adisadel College and

Achimota School Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school w ...

. He is one of the founding members of the Computer Science Department at the

University of Cape Coast The University of Cape Coast is a public collegiate university located in the historic town of Cape Coast. The campus has a rare seafront and sits on a hill overlooking the wide Atlantic Ocean. It operates on two campuses: the Southern Campus (O ...

, and continues to hold a professorship there. He is also a member of the Council of the University of Ghana. In 2000, he became director of

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces ...

for the African region.

Work with telecommunications and the Internet

On Quaynor's return to Ghana from the United States in the early 1990s, he established some of Africa's first Internet connections and was involved in setting up some key organisations, including the African Network Operators Group (AfNOG). He introduced Value Added Networks in the region through the introduction of the SWIFT, Internet and Commerce networks, and was founding chairman of AfriNIC, the African numbers registry. Quaynor is the Chairman of the

ian company Network Computer Systems, and a member of the United Nations Secretary General Advisory Group on ICT, member of the ITU Telecom Board, chair and of the OAU Internet Task Force, President of the Internet Society of Ghana, and member of the Worldbank Infodev TAP. Quaynor also serves as a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance.

Awards and recognition

He was awarded the 2015

Multi-stakeholder Ethos Award together with Cheryl Langdon Orr Also on 26 June 2013, he was selected for induction into the

Internet Hall of Fame The Internet Hall of Fame is an honorary lifetime achievement award administered by the Internet Society (ISOC) in recognition of individuals who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the Internet.

by the

Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. Its mission is "to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people ...

. In December 2007, Quaynor was awarded the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award from the

IETF The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements an ...

The Internet Engineering Task Force
.
, ICANN, 11 December 2007.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaynor, Nii Ghanaian engineers Ghanaian scientists Living people Thayer School of Engineering alumni Stony Brook University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Internet in Africa Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Achimota School Academic staff of the University of Cape Coast Alumni of Adisadel College