Daniel Lewin

From Grokipedia

Daniel Mark Lewin (1970–2001) was an American-Israeli mathematician, entrepreneur, and veteran of the Israel Defense Forces who co-founded Akamai Technologies in 1998, developing algorithms that enabled efficient content delivery networks and transformed internet infrastructure for speed and reliability.

Born in Denver, Colorado, to Israeli parents, Lewin relocated to Israel at age nine, where he later served in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit of the IDF during mandatory military service. He earned bachelor of science degrees in computer science and mathematics summa cum laude from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, followed by a master's degree and Ph.D. candidacy in applied mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he collaborated with professor Tom Leighton on groundbreaking research in algorithms.

On September 11, 2001, Lewin was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles, seated in row 9 or 10 adjacent to the hijackers; leveraging his military training, he reportedly moved to confront and attempt to disarm the attackers, including Satam al-Suqami, but was stabbed to death, marking him as the first casualty of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His actions exemplified personal heroism amid the hijacking that ultimately led to the plane's crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Akamai Technologies, under Leighton's continued leadership, grew into a global enterprise, honoring Lewin's foundational contributions through ongoing innovation in cybersecurity and edge computing.

In brief

Lewin was an Israeli-American thinker who treated the internet as a math problem. Akamai was the company that sold the solution.

He was murdered on the first hijacked plane of September 11, 2001. Colleagues still describe him as the first victim of that morning, and as a founder whose algorithms remain in the pipes.