J.C.R. Licklider
lorenetworkingops culture
The psychologist who ran ARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office from 1962 and addressed his memos to the Members and Affiliates of the Intergalactic Computer Network.
He did not build the network; he funded the people who did, and described what it should be before the hardware existed. The joke in the name hides a serious specification: an electronic commons open to all, and the main medium of informational interaction for governments, institutions, companies and individuals. That is close to what happened. His other contribution was structural - the money he directed created computer science departments at several universities, which is why the field had people in it a decade later.
Also known as: licklider, lick, intergalactic computer network