Daniel M. Lewin

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Daniel M. Lewin
Lewin.daniel.jpg
Born Daniel Mark Lewin
May 14, 1970 (1970-05-14)
Denver, Colorado
Died September 11, 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 31)
On board American Airlines Flight 11
Cause of death Stabbed
Nationality American-Israeli
Alma mater Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (BA, BS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known for Co-founded Akamai Technologies
Home town Jerusalem, Israel
Religion Judaism
Spouse(s) Anne Lewin
Children Eitan Lewin (son)
Itamar Lewin (son)
Parents Charles Lewin (father)
Peggy Lewin (mother)
Relatives Jonathan Lewin (brother)
Michael Lewin (brother)

Daniel "Danny" Mark Lewin (Hebrew: דניאל (דני) מארק לוין‎); (May 14, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American-Israeli mathematician and entrepreneur best known for co-founding internet company Akamai Technologies.[1] He died in the September 11 attacks.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Lewin was born in Denver, Colorado[2] and raised in Israel.[2]

Career [edit]

He served for four years in the Israel Defense Forces as an officer in Sayeret Matkal, one of the more notable IDF special forces units.[2] Lewin earned the rank of captain.[3]

He attended the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa while simultaneously working at IBM's research laboratory in the city.[4] While at IBM, he was responsible for developing the Genesys system,[4] a processor verification tool that is used widely within IBM and in other companies such as Advanced Micro Devices and SGS-Thomson.[4]

Upon receiving a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, in 1995,[4] he traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to begin graduate studies toward a Ph.D at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1996. While there, he and his advisor, Professor F. Thomson Leighton, came up with innovative algorithms for optimizing Internet traffic.[5] These algorithms became the basis for Akamai Technologies, which the two founded in 1998.[4] Lewin served as the company's chief technology officer and a board member, and during the height of the Internet boom achieved great wealth.[6] He was posthumously named one of the most influential figures of the Internet age.

Death and legacy [edit]

Lewin’s name is located on Panel N-75 of the National September 11 Memorial’s North Pool, along with those of other passengers of Flight 11.

Lewin is survived by his wife Anne and his two sons, Eitan and Itamar, who were aged five and eight during the September 2001 attacks.[2][4][7]

Lewin was fatally stabbed aboard American Airlines Flight 11 as it was hijacked during the September 11 attacks. A 2002 FAA memo suggests he may have been killed by Satam al-Suqami after he attempted to foil the hijacking.[8][9] According to the FAA, Lewin was seated in business class in seat 9B, close to hijackers Mohamed Atta and al Suqami (who was possibly seated behind him). It was first reported that he had been shot by al Suqami, although this assertion was later changed to a stabbing. According to the 9/11 Commission, Lewin may have been stabbed in the throat whilst trying to foil the hijacking, not knowing that al Suqami was sitting just behind him.[10] Lewin was identified as the first victim of the September 11 attacks.[3][11]

After his death, the intersection of Main and Vassar Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts was renamed "Danny Lewin Square" in his honor.[7] The award given to the best student-authored paper at the ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) was named after him as the Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award.[5]

At the National 9/11 Memorial, Lewin is memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-75.[12]

Awards [edit]

  • 1995 – Technion named him the year's Outstanding Student in Computer Engineering.
  • 1998 – Morris Joseph Levin Award for Best Masterworks Thesis Presentation at MIT.

References [edit]

  1. ^ Erik Nygren, Ramesh Sitaraman, and Jennifer Sun. "The Akamai Network: A Platform for High-Performance Internet Applications, ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review, Vol. 44, No.3, July 2010.". 
  2. ^ a b c d Weiss, Efrat (12 September 2001). "Daniel was a very special man". Yedioth Ahronoth (in Hebrew) (Ynet!). Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Richard Sisk & Monique el-Faizy (July 24, 2004). "Ex-Israeli commando tried to halt unfolding hijacking". NY Daily News. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Akamai Remembers Danny Lewin". Akamai Technologies. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  5. ^ a b Leighton, Tom (2002). "Remarks made by Tom Leighton to commemorate the naming of the STOC Best Student Paper Award in honor of the late Daniel Lewin". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  6. ^ "דני לוין, מייסד אקאמאי ובוגר הטכניון, ברשימת העשירים הצעירים" (in Hebrew). Globes. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  7. ^ a b "Volume 122, Issue 47". The Tech. MIT. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  8. ^ "UPI hears...". United Press International. 6 March 2002. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  9. ^ Nickisch, Curt (8 September 2011). "Cambridge Co. Keeps Founder’s Spirit Alive After 9/11". WBUR 90.9 Boston's National Public Radio News Station. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
  10. ^ "'We Have Some Planes'". National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. July 2004. Retrieved 2011-09-11. 
  11. ^ Ron Jager, Danny Lewin: The First Victim Of 9/11, 5TJT, September 8, 2011
  12. ^ "South Pool: Panel N-75 - Daniel M. Lewin". National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Retrieved October 29, 2011. 

External links [edit]

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