Ralph Merkle

Ralph C. Merkle (born 1952) is an American computer scientist and cryonicist. He is also a researcher and speaker on nanotechnology.

Merkle received his B.A. in Computer Science, U.C. Berkeley, in 1974, his M.S. in Computer Science, U.C. Berkeley, in 1977, and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Stanford, in 1979. His doctoral thesis is named "Secrecy, authentication, and public key systems".

Merkle signed up for cryopreservation arrangements with the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in 1989. He is a member of the Alcor Board of Directors (since May 21, 1998), the Scientific Advisory Board of Alcor, and the UK Cryonics and Cryopreservation Research Network. He is a signatory of the Scientists' Open Letter on Cryonics, having signed it on March 19, 2004.

His wife, Carol Shaw, a retired video game designer, has also has signed up for cryonics.