Nick McKeown
Stanford emeritus professor of computer Science and electrical engineering; networking entrepreneur.
Nick McKeown’s work connects academic networking research with commercial chip and software companies. He joined Stanford in 1995 and helped develop programmable networks through research, startups and open networking organisations.
Last refreshed: 22 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Nick McKeown
Mentioned in: Science advisers ask Narayan for an AI Sovereignty Plan
UK Startups and InnovationChip firm OLIX prints $312m at $3.3bn
UK Startups and InnovationBackground
Nick McKeown is an emeritus professor of electrical engineering and computer Science at Stanford. His research covers the design of internet routers, network architecture and ways to make networks programmable. After engineering studies at Leeds and graduate study at Berkeley, he joined Stanford in 1995. His group’s work includes software-defined networking, programmable packet processing and tools for experimenting with networks. [Stanford biography](https://yuba.stanford.edu/~nickm/).
McKeown co-founded Abrizio, Nemo, Nicira and Barefoot Networks, carrying networking ideas into commercial products. He also helped establish the Open Networking Foundation, Open Networking Lab and P4.org. His academic work includes router performance, congestion control and video streaming. Alongside research and company building, he has supported open access to university research, placing his own university work in the public domain since 1999.
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 22 October 2026. Editorial standards.