Dr Comer holds a BA in Mathematics and Physics from Houghton College earned in 1971 and a PhD in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University earned in 1976.

He is a distinguished professor of computer science and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University in the US.

Comer came back to Purdue University in August 2009, prior to that he was acting as Vice President of Research for computer networking company Cisco Systems Douglas Comer.

Douglas Comer headed a number of research projects associated with the creation of the Internet, and is the author of a number of books on the Internet and TCP/IP networking.

Dr Comer is a fellow of the ACM Department of Computer Science: Faculty: Douglas E. Comer from 2000, as a recognition for his "work with IP-based networking supporting the modern Internet", as well as for his "contributions in research, education, and implementation in operating systems and networking".

Dr Comer is also the developer of the Xinu operating system.