"Vint was very much a part of the ICANN model's creation. No individual, no country, no company controls the Internet. Instead, it is the Internet community that drives the ICANN agenda," ICANN President Paul Twomey said.

"People may not realize that Vint, like all members of the ICANN board, serve the ICANN community as volunteers. It's an incredible sacrifice made in the name of a stronger and better single globally interoperable Internet. That model works," he added.

Twomey led a series of tributes at the gala, which included speeches from Ira Magaziner, who oversaw the Clinton White House policy on the Internet that led to the creation of ICANN, and Steve Crocker, chair of ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee and Cerf's life-long friend.

Read more about Cerf's time at ICANN in Technology Daily's "Issue of the Week" on Monday.