World Wide Web inventor appointed computer science professor at Oxford University

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is returning to his alma mater after almost four decades

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has been appointed as a professor at Oxford University's computer science department.

According to an announcement made by the Oxford University, he will become a member of the Christ Church College founded in 1524. Berners-Lee is returning to his alma mater after almost four decades to join the department of computer science from where he graduated with a first class degree in Physics in 1976.



His role is expected to be primarily related to computer science research but it remains to be seen how much time he will actually spend in Oxford, given his full-time professorship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Berners-Lee will be joining his long-time research collaborator Sir Nigel Shadbolt, who was recently appointed Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, and with whom he co-founded the Open Data Institute in London.

Commenting on his appointment, Professor Mike Wooldridge, head of Computer Science at Oxford, said: "Few living individuals have changed our world as profoundly as Tim did with his invention of the World Wide Web. We are delighted and honoured to welcome Tim back to Oxford and are tremendously excited about what we will be able to do together in the years to come,"

Berners-Lee was on Time magazine's 100 most important people of the 20th century.

In a 1989 memo called "Information Management: A Proposal, Berners-Lee explained how hypertext could be combined with the internet to create a system for sharing and distributing information worldwide.



"We are delighted that Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee will be joining us. As one of the most significant innovators and scholars of our time, his work with us here in Oxford will continue to consolidate our standing as the world's top university,” according to dean of Christ Church, professor Martyn Percy.

"Christ Church also intends to appoint a new associate professor in computer science to enhance our collaboration with the department, and hopes to offer at least three undergraduate places per year in the subject."