NLnet Co-founder Frances Brazier Knighted For Exceptional Contribution to Society

Prof. Dr. Frances Brazier was awarded Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion on April 27, 2024. It is the highest civilian order of chivalry in the Netherlands, conferred on persons who have rendered outstanding service to society. Brazier is one of the founders of NLnet, the first internet service provider of the Netherlands and one of the first in Europe. She is a full professor in Engineering Systems Foundations at the Delft University of Technology.

With her contribution to NLnet Brazier promoted IP-connectivity in the Netherlands and helped bootstrap the open internet in Europe. She contributed to the development of open internet standards and within NLnet she recognized the importance of reliable and secure internet protocols. As a member of the NLnet board she co-founded NLnet Labs in 1999 for long-term research projects. NLnet Labs is still a thriving foundation dedicated to developing open standards that strengthen the Internet’s architecture.

Brazier was one of the first female professors in informatics and artificial intelligence in The Netherlands and she has worked towards improving the position of women in academia. She has published over 400 scientific papers and supervised more than thirty PhD students.

We congratulate Frances with her well-deserved Knighthood and want to thank her for the important work she has done for the open internet in general and NLnet in particular.