Adrian V. Stokes

Adrian V Stokes (1945 – 2020) 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.

Education

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.{{cite web |last1= |title=Dr Adrian V Stokes OBE CSci CChem MRSC |url=http://www.rsc.org/diversity/175-faces/all-faces/dr-adrian-v-stokes-obe-csci-cchem-mrsc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409113929/http://www.rsc.org/diversity/175-faces/all-faces/dr-adrian-v-stokes-obe-csci-cchem-mrsc |archive-date=9 April 2017 |website=Royal Society of Chemistry}}{{cite web |last1=Debretts |title=Adrian V Stokes Biography |url=http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/6583/Adrian-Victor-STOKES |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150111215302/http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/6583/Adrian-Victor-STOKES |archive-date=2015-01-11}}

Career

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,{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Profile: Dr Adrian Stokes OBE |url=http://www.council-on-tribunals.gov.uk/adjust/item/profile_stokes.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100910235604/http://www.council-on-tribunals.gov.uk/adjust/item/profile_stokes.htm |archive-date=2010-09-10 |website=Council on Tribunals}}{{citation |last=Abbate |first=Janet |title=Silvia Wilbur |date=April 2001 |work=IEEE History Center Interview #634 |url=https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Silvia_Wilbur |publisher=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |quote=I mean, when we actually got it working, and started sending emails—it was one of the first things we started to do. I was probably one of the first people in this country [the United Kingdom] ever to send an email, back in 1974. |authorlink=Janet Abbate}} as well as early monitoring software for the interconnection of the ARPANET with British academic networks, the first international heterogenous computer network.{{Cite journal |last=Kirstein |first=P.T. |date=1999 |title=Early experiences with the Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4773/f19792f9fce8eacba72e5f8c2a021414e52d.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=38–44 |doi=10.1109/85.759368 |issn=1934-1547 |s2cid=1558618 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207092443/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4773/f19792f9fce8eacba72e5f8c2a021414e52d.pdf |archive-date=2020-02-07 |quote=[In] 1975 ... there were already some 40 British academic research groups using the link. ... David Bates and Adrian Stokes did most of the early monitoring software.}}

He contributed to a number of books on communication protocols and computer networking from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.{{Cite web |title=Books by Adrian V. Stokes |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Adrian-V-Stokes/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AAdrian+V+Stokes |website=Amazon}}{{Cite book |title=Integrated office systems |date=1982 |publisher=Pergamon Infotech Ltd |isbn=978-0-08-028568-9 |editor-last=Stokes |editor-first=A. V. |series=State of the Art Report |location=Maidenhead}}{{Cite book |title=Communications standards |publisher=Pergamon Infotech |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-08-034092-0 |editor-last=Stokes |editor-first=A. V. |series=State of the art report |location=Oxford; New York}}

Personal life

Stokes was born on 25 June 1945 and died on 7 April 2020. He had spina bifida, and campaigned on behalf of people with disabilities for decades. He was the president of Disabled Motoring UK.{{cite web |url=https://www.disabledmotoring.org/news-and-features/news/post/606-dr-adrian-v-stokes-obe-tribute |title=Dr Adrian V Stokes OBE Tribute - News - Disabled Motoring UK |website=www.disabledmotoring.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028235105/https://www.disabledmotoring.org/news-and-features/news/post/606-dr-adrian-v-stokes-obe-tribute |archive-date=2020-10-28}}