Any award is a good thing, even an annual, narrowly defined one. But let's not make the Gordon Bell more prestigious than it is. In the field of computing it does not come close to being the most prestigious. Also, the category in which Emeagwali won had nothing to do with the internet (read the explanation n the link below). Personally, if I won a prize by default (because the actual winner by objective criteria forfeited it to claim another, more important prize), I would not be jumping around claiming to be the black Albert Eistein. But that's me. A default win for me is more of a consolation. We have to emphasize these facts although some people do not want to hear them:
1. Emeagwali was a default winner of the prize (see detailed explanation below), meaning that he won only because the team with the fastest speed-cost ratio (meaning, faster than Emeagwali's) won in another category and had to forfeit the prize (the second place entry) because the prize givers have a rule of one prize per entry.
2. Emeagwali's entry had NOTHING to do with the internet (see clarification in the link below)
3. Emeagwali's experiments on the connection machine relied on an already existing connection machine and on an already existing internet. He CANNOT therefore be considered even a cousin (apologies to Ayo Obe) of the internet, let alone its father.
He is not a father of the internet by any stretch. The proof is conclusive for dispassionate people.
He does not possess the patents he claims to possess. That has also been proven conclusively.
He does not possess the PhD he claims to possess. That has been proven conclusively.
He is not a professor in either British or American definition of the term. That is self-evident and has been proven conclusively.
I want those who are dancing around these damning facts to specify what exactly it is that they still need proof for. Failing that, perhaps the burden should now shift to them; they should prove that Emeagwali's claims are truthful. We alleged and proved. Those who dispute must prove our facts wrong.
And let's not confuse Gloria's allegation with the larger, settled issue of Emeagwali's multilayered fraud. I believe Gloria Emeagwali. Why would anyone make such a weighty allegation in a public forum if it wasn't true? The decision to provide or not provide further evidence/details on the allegation is hers and should be guided by legal considerations since the matter has made its way to her lawyers. I also think that her offer to speak privately to folks who want more details and evidence should more than suffice. It would be unwise to reveal details of legal matters in a public forum. Those who truly desire the details should call her at the number she provided.
But let's be careful not to further victimize the victim. And let's not change the topic from Philip Emeagwali's PROVEN fraud. The man is huge disgrace to his race. And he is clearly delusional. He may actually be sick. The Jamaica video is very disturbing on many levels. If Emeagwali wasn't already lost in his delusions he would take Gloria's latest advice and actually try and get a job, a real job and then finish his PhD or put his masters degree to real research and teaching use. If he gets a PhD and gets an academic job he can call himself doctor and Professor and live off whatever intellectual capital remains from his Gordon Bell project. This path would definitely be more honorable than going around the black circuit coning our people of their hard-earned money by telling them sweet lies about him being a black computer genius and father of the internet.
http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/history/emeagwali.html
2007-02-23: No. Philip Emeagwali was never a "father of the Internet" and made no significant contributions to the Internet's development. Philip Emeagwali did not invent the Internet.
WWW FAQs: Was Philip Emeagwali a "father of the Internet?"
2007-02-23: No. Philip Emeagwali was never a "father of the Internet" and made no significant contributions to the Internet's development. Philip Emeagwali did not invent the Internet.
Philip Emeagwali did work in supercomputing in the eighties, making improvements to the "Connection Machine" parallel supercomputer design. But supercomputing and the Internet are very different areas. And Emeagwali did not contribute to even one of the hundreds of Internet standards, or RFCs (Requests For Comments), that were created in the early decades of the Internet— an open process that anyone could participate in. His supercomputing research was completely unrelated to the Internet.
Unfortunately, Emeagwali has promoted himself as a "father of the Internet." This is based on Emeagwali's claim that "the Supercomputer is the father of the Internet," because both are networks of computers working together.
The biggest problem with this is that Emeagwali did his work in the late eighties, and the core standards for communication on the Internet already existed by then. Yes, further improvements to the Internet have certainly been made since then— but Emeagwali did not make them. His research simply wasn't relevant to the Internet's growth.
A secondary problem is that Emeagwali's contributions to supercomputing just weren't all that significant. He didn't invent the Connection Machine, and he didn't build the fastest supercomputer constructed in the year in which he won the Gordon Bell Prize— not even the fastest based on the Connection Machine. His machine was only the second fastest. Normally, the prize was given out both to the fastest overall supercomputer and to the most cost-effective. In that year, however, the fastest computer was built by a team at Mobil... and that computer was also the most cost-effective. The judges decided not to award both prizes to the same computer. So Emeagwali won for his second-place entry.
I won't mince words here: Emeagwali has no credibility as a "father of the Internet," and his ongoing public claims to that effect don't do him any credit. They only serve to damage the credibility of those groups and individuals who take his claims seriously.
For more information, see the Wikipedia entry on Emeagwali and the Emeagwali myths page.
For more information about the real inventors of the Internet, see the article who invented the Internet?
On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 5:33 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:
'I am looking for a way to re=explain myself to the many Black youths I have spoken to
in the UK and using Philip Emeagwali as a point of reference was always hugely welcomed.....' Fatti
Seems to me that you can still point to the Gordon Bell Prize as an achievement ..... and leave it at that.
For a Black person to win such a prize in the 1980s was quite a feat.
Philip Emeagwali should try to complete his doctorate...... or get an honorary one at least. I am sure that of the
numerous universities in Nigeria at least one could confer this on the basis of the Gordon Bell Prize and whatever he has done
since 1989. I know that Bill Gates does not have a doctorate but I never heard him referring to himself as Dr. Gates.
I don't know what PE has added to his cv since 1989, but he must have done something scholarly
or performed some kind of research in the last 21 years. That would strengthen the case.
Apparently Philip Emeagwali has had no institutional affiliation for the last 20 years, so I suggest that he should apply to one of the many
private universities in Nigeria or elsewhere for a teaching job - to earn his claim of being a professor. That should not be so difficult. He can defintely
be an asset in a Computer Studies Unit.
Cases of outright fraud can be dealt with separately and judiciously .... but most importantly Philip
should put some water in the wine that he is drinking.
GE
________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Wassa Fatti [wassafatti@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 11:20 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: A Brief History of the Internet: Vint Cerf et al
"You resisted being used by him; many of our people who did not know about his history of fraud, proudly embraced and disseminated his falsehoods, becoming unwitting participants in the scam." Moses asserted.
This assertion hit me hard. The reason is that I am still recovering from the dizzyness and shock that the persistent attacks on Philip Emeadwali by Moses had on me. At first I just saw it as "rubbish", but the more the daily relevation, the more new things surface to support Moses's attack. . I have attended many Black organised events in Europe and Philip Emeagwali's "contribution to science" was always a point of reference. Beside that I do not know how to explain it to my kids born out of Africa, but who embraceed their African roots deeply. They are very proud of Philip Emeadwali's achievement in a world we as Africans emerged from: slavery, colonisation, underdevelopment, wrong and backward leaders and then the achievements of Philip Emeagwali was a big bang at a time when we were still condenming aparthied and global racism. I mean at a time (1980s) we were still fighting to assert our humanity as Africans. Any does of small Black Intellingence that was covered on the papers such as New York Times was always an other evidence that we are/were as intelligent as the White folks. That was and still is the essence of Philip Emeagwali in our intellectual renaissance in the annual Black History events in the UK.
The other thing is that I have never heard that Philip Emeagwali has produce any material in engineering; lecture in any university; attend any major conference to present his discoveries. He may have done so without my kowledge and I may be wrong; because I have read some of his writings in his blog and he made good analysis on Africa and the importance of intellectual capital. I have also seen his pictures with black boards in the background with mathematical wrtings. Secondly, for him to be honoured at the White House by Bill Clinton manifested that there is some thing in the skull of Philip Emeagwali. To also receive a prize however small or insignificant, indicated that he must have done something in the development of computer science. He may not be the father of the internet, but for the powerful US government to honour a chap like Philip Emeagwali from a remote African village in Nigeria, gave a bit of credence to his claim and I think otherwise the scientific world would have destroy him ages ago.
So Moses, I am not doubting you or the allegations against Philip Emeagwali. If you can produce more evidence on this dialogue, that will help a lot. The reason is that this relevation has exposed some of us as giving false information on Black achievements to the youths for so long. It is only people like you can help to clear the air. You know Philip Emeagwali in person. It seems as you knew him in Nigeria and attended the same university with him in the US.
Wassa
________________________________
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:35:41 -0500
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: A Brief History of the Internet: Vint Cerf et al
From: meochonu@gmail.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Imagine! This is what he does; he plants his delusions and falsehoods on many black websites and presses by approaching the editors and webmasters as he approached you. He also puts those spurious claims on the many websites that he and his wife have acquired for the purpose of proliferating and furthering the fraud. This is how the internet got populated by his false claims. That's how a lie-riden biographical summary he wrote about his "achievements" went viral to the point of getting picked up by the LSAT to fulfill the need for diversity in the test!! The man is despicable. You resisted being used by him; many of our people who did not know about his history of fraud, proudly embraced and disseminated his falsehoods, becoming unwitting participants in the scam.
On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 11:03 PM, Funmi Tofowomo Okelola <cafeafricana1@aol.com<mailto:cafeafricana1@aol.com>> wrote:
On or about 2008, I received an email from Mr. Phillip Emeagwali, in which he requested the help of cafeafricana.com<http://cafeafricana.com/> to disseminate information regarding his achievement as the "father of the Internet."
I respectfully advised him via Horde webmail to refrain from proclaiming himself as "the father of Internet." Additionally, I advised him to seek psychological counseling for his delusions of grandeur.
Mr. Phillip Emeagwali is NOT one of the fathers of the Internet.
Funmi
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