Vinton Cerf works on his computer in his McLean, Va., home Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005. (AP photo)

    BEIJING, Sep. 9 (Xinhuanet)-- Google Inc. on Thursday said it hired one of Internet founding fathers Vinton Cerf to become the company's "chief evangelist," helping build next generation of online features.

    Cerf, 62, was co-designer of some of the Internet's underlying architecture in the 1970s while working as an assistant professor at Stanford University.

    With partner Robert Kahn, he developed the technology that allows computers to share information, setting the stage for the Web, e-mail and instant messaging.

    In an interview with AFP, Cerf said the job of "evangelist" would include "a combination of strategy, technology and general enthusiast" for Google, to help use the company as a platform for new ways to use the Internet.

   In addition to his new position with Google, Cerf is also working on the Interplanetary Network, a project of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab that "aims to extend the Internet into outer space for planet-to-planet communications," according to the statement by Google.

    Cerf has a mathematics degree from Stanford University and master's and doctorate degrees in computer science from the University of California at Los Angeles.

    Google, which has a flourishing online advertising business, is expanding rapidly. Its staff now totals nearly 4,200, almost double the size of a year ago. Enditem

(Agencies)