"CERF'S UP AT GOOGLE"... TALENT GOES TO GOOGLE AGAIN

HatTip to Om. Here's the Google press release on this big news:

Vint Cerf, a Founding Father of the Internet, Joins Google as Chief Internet Evangelist

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – September 8, 2005 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced that it hired Vinton (Vint) Cerf, the longtime technologist who is widely known as a "founding father" of the Internet, as Chief Internet Evangelist.

"Vint Cerf is clearly one of the great technology leaders of our time," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt of Cerf, who co-designed the TCP/IP protocols that were used to develop the Internet's underlying architecture. "His vision for technology helped create entire industries that have transformed many parts of our lives. We are honored to welcome him to Google."

Cerf will continue his leadership in the Internet community, and help Google build network infrastructure, architectures, systems, and standards for the next generation of Internet applications.

"Google has already made tremendous strides in making access to information on the web a reality for users across the globe, but we're still in the Internet's early innings," he said. "This medium will enjoy wider-spread use than television, radio or phones, and will ultimately expand beyond planet Earth. Google has always believed in doing things differently, and I believe that places us in a unique position to help bring even the wildest Internet visions into reality." (full press release)

UPDATE: More from CNet, "Why Google hired Vint Cerf"