Jan Gruntorad

Director on DANTE’s Board and Director of CESNET

Jan Gruntorad holds Dipl. Ing. (1975) and Ph.D. (1989) degrees from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague.

In 1992 he was awarded a grant by the Ministry of Education for the establishment of an Internet-type network in the Czech Republic - CESNET. The legal body CESNET – the NREN of the Czech Republic - was founded in March 1996. CESNET is an association of all Czech Universities and the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Since the creation of the CESNET legal body, Dr. Gruntorad has been a member of its Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer responsible for research and operational tasks within CESNET.

From 1998 to 2003 Dr. Gruntorad was Chairman of the CEENET (Central and Eastern European Network Association). From 1996 to 1999 he served on the Board of Directors of the EBONE Company (pan-European Internet provider based in Copenhagen, Denmark). In January 2003 Dr. Gruntorad became a member of the Board of Directors of DANTE. He also represents the Czech Republic in TERENA.

Since 1999 Dr. Gruntorad has also been a consultant for NATO in the field of computer networks for the Research and Educational community in the Caucasus.