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Daniel Lewin

From Alfawiki
Daniel Mark Lewin
Born (1970-05-14) May 14, 1970 (age 56)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
DiedSeptember 11, 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 31)
Aboard American Airlines Flight 11, United States
Occupation(s)Mathematician, entrepreneur
Known forCo-founder of Akamai Technologies

Daniel Mark Lewin (; May 14, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was a mathematician and entrepreneur holding both American and Israeli citizenships who co-established Akamai Technologies. As a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 11, Lewin is believed to have been the initial casualty of the September 11 attacks after being stabbed by hijacker Satam al-Suqami.

Early life

Lewin was born in Denver, Colorado, and relocated to Israel at the age of fourteen, where he was raised in Jerusalem. He completed his secondary education at an ORT high school.

Career

Following high school graduation, Lewin was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), where he served in the prestigious Sayeret Matkal commando unit and attained the rank of captain.[1][2] After his military service, he pursued electronic engineering studies at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. Concurrently, he worked at IBM's research laboratory located there, eventually advancing to a full-time research fellow and project leader role.[3] During his tenure at IBM, he contributed to the creation of the Genesys system, a processor verification tool adopted extensively by IBM and companies such as Advanced Micro Devices and SGS-Thomson.[4][5]

Lewin graduated summa cum laude with both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, earning recognition as Technion’s top Computer Engineering student in 1995.[3] In 1996, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to pursue graduate studies at the MIT. Under the guidance of Professor F. Thomson Leighton, Lewin co-developed consistent hashing—an algorithm designed to enhance Internet traffic distribution.[6] This breakthrough laid the groundwork for founding Akamai Technologies in 1998. Lewin held positions as Akamai’s chief technology officer and board member, amassing considerable wealth during the Internet expansion.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

Death and legacy

During the September 11 attacks, Lewin was fatally stabbed aboard American Airlines Flight 11 while traveling to a business meeting in Los Angeles.[7] A 2001 memo from the FAA indicates that hijacker Satam al-Suqami, seated behind Lewin in business class near hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari, likely carried out the attack. Early accounts mentioned gunfire but these details were later removed.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name The 9/11 Commission Report confirms that Lewin was stabbed by a hijacker, most likely al-Suqami.[8] Flight attendants reported that his throat had been cut.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

The commission suggested that Lewin, an experienced Israeli officer, might have tried to confront hijackers Atta or Omari without realizing al-Suqami was positioned behind him.[8] He is acknowledged as the first fatality of the attacks.[2][9][10]

Lewin is survived by his wife Anne along with their two sons, Eitan and Itamar, who were five and eight years old at the time.[1][4][10][11] His remains were identified in July 2004.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

Canadian actor Brad Hampton portrayed Lewin in the BBC docudrama Zero Hour episode titled "The Last Hour of Flight 11".Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

In recognition of his legacy, the intersection of Main and Vassar Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts was renamed Danny Lewin Square.[11] Additionally, the ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) dedicated its best student paper award in his memory.[6] On the tenth anniversary of his passing in 2011, peers and collaborators gathered to honor his contributions to Internet technology.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad nameCite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

Lewin’s memory is preserved at Panel N-75 of the North Pool within the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

His life story is detailed in Molly Knight Raskin’s 2013 biography No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet. The book highlights Akamai’s role in keeping major news websites operational on September 11—a testament to Lewin’s foresight.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name[7]

Awards

  • In 1995, recognized as an Exceptional Student in Computer Engineering by the Technion.
  • In 1998, honored with the Morris Joseph Levin Award for the Best Master’s Thesis Presentation at MIT.

External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Ynet
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named DailyNews
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named invent
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Akamai
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named forward
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named UniversityLasVegas
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named slate
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 9/11Report
  9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Tablet
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 5TJT
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MIT
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