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Created page with "'''Daniel Mark Lewin''' '''"Danny" Lewin''' ({{langx|he|דניאל "דני" מארק לוין}}; May 14, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American-Israeli mathemati..."
'''Daniel Mark Lewin''' '''"Danny" Lewin''' ({{langx|he|דניאל "דני" מארק לוין}}; May 14, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an [[American]]-[[Israeli]] mathematician and entrepreneur who co-founded '''Akamai Technologies''. He was a passenger aboard ''American Airlines Flight 11'' during the [[September 11 attacks]]. According to the [[9/11 Commission Report]], Lewin was stabbed by [[Satam al-Suqami]] behind him, after attempting to confront two other [[Islamism|Islamist]] hijackers seated in front of him. His death made him the first victim of the September 11 attacks.<ref name="9/11Report">{{cite web|url=https://9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm|title=1. WE HAVE SOME PLANES|work=[[9/11 Commission Report]]|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|date=July 22, 2004}}</ref><ref name="Aish2026">{{cite web|url=https://aish.com/a-9-11-hero-the-life-and-legacy-of-daniel-lewin/|title=9/11 Hero: The Life and Legacy of Daniel Lewin|first=Yehudis|last=Litvak|work=Aish.com|date=September 8, 2026}}</ref><ref name="JerusalemPost2026">{{cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-866320|title=Who was Israeli American Daniel Lewin, the first victim of 9/11?|first=Mathilda|last=Heller|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=September 11, 2026}}</ref>
==Early life==
Lewin was born on May 14, 1970, in [[Denver]], Colorado, to a [[American Jews|Jewish]] family. He was one of three brothers. He moved to [[Israel]] with his family at age 14 and spent the remainder of his childhood living in [[Jerusalem]]. He completed his secondary education at an [[ORT Israel|ORT]] high school.<ref name=Ynet>{{cite news |title=Daniel was a very special man |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-1114088,00.html |first=Efrat |last=Weiss |date=12 September 2001 |access-date=12 September 2011|work=[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]|publisher=Ynet!|language=Hebrew}}</ref><ref name=forward>{{cite web|url=https://forward.com/israel/349423/the-life-and-loss-of-daniel-lewin-web-genius-and-9-11s-first-victim/|title=The Life and Loss of Daniel Lewin, Web Genius and 9/11’s ‘First Victim’|work=The Forward}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths LEWIN, DANIEL M.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/classified/paid-notice-deaths-lewin-daniel-m.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 17, 2001}}</ref>
At age 14, Lewin made [[aliyah]] to Israel. After completing high school, he enlisted in the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) and served in the elite ''Sayeret Matkal'' commando unit, eventually becoming an officer and rising to the rank of captain.<ref name=Ynet/><ref name=DailyNews>{{cite news |title=Ex-Israeli commando tried to halt unfolding hijacking|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/victim-died-hero-flt-11-ex-israeli-commando-halt-unfolding-hijacking-article-1.566014|author1=Sisk, Richard |author2=el-Faizy, Monique|newspaper=New York Daily News|location=New York City |date=July 24, 2004}}</ref><ref name="Aish2026"/>
==Career==
After being discharged from the army, Lewin studied electronic engineering at the [[Technion – Israel Institute of Technology]] in [[Haifa]] while working at [[IBM]]'s Israel Haifa Research Lab there. He became a full-time research fellow and project leader and developed the Genesys system, a processor-verification tool used by IBM and other technology companies.<ref name=invent>{{cite web|url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/daniel-lewin|title=Daniel Lewin|publisher=[[National Inventors Hall of Fame]]}}</ref><ref name=Akamai>{{cite web|title=Akamai Remembers Danny Lewin|url=http://www.akamai.com/html/about/management_dl.html|publisher=[[Akamai Technologies]]|date=2006}}</ref>
Lewin received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] and a [[Bachelor of Science]], [[Latin honors|''summa cum laude'']], from the Technion and was named the university's outstanding student in Computer Engineering in 1995.<ref name=invent/> In 1996, he moved to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], to begin doctoral studies at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]. There, working with his advisor [[F. Thomson Leighton]], he developed mathematical techniques involving ''consistent hashing'', an algorithmic approach that helped distribute Internet requests efficiently and reduce server congestion.<ref name=UniversityLasVegas>{{cite web | url=http://www.egr.unlv.edu/~bein/SIGACT/lewin.html | first=Tom | last=Leighton | year=2002|publisher=[[University of Nevada, Las Vegas]]|title=Remarks made by Tom Leighton to commemorate the naming of the STOC Best Student Paper Award in honor of the late Daniel Lewin}}</ref>
In 1998, Lewin, Leighton and other partners founded ''Akamai Technologies'', with Lewin serving as the company's chief technology officer and a board member.<ref name=Akamai/> The company's technology became an important part of the infrastructure used to distribute Internet content and manage heavy traffic.
==Death and legacy==
===September 11 attacks===
On September 11, 2001, aged 31, Lewin was traveling aboard ''American Airlines Flight 11'' from [[Boston Logan International Airport]] to [[Los Angeles International Airport]] for a business meeting.<ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Lewin was seated in business class near hijackers [[Mohamed Atta]], [[Abdulaziz al-Omari]], and [[Satam al-Suqami]]. According to the [[9/11 Commission Report]], Lewin attempted to confront the hijackers seated in front of him, possibly Atta or al-Omari. Lewin, who had military experience with Sayeret Matkal, tried to stop the hijacking without realizing that al-Suqami was seated directly behind him.<ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Lewin was stabbed by al-Suqami, who was seated behind him. Flight attendants communicating with airline officials from the aircraft reported that Lewin's throat had been slashed. The circumstances have also been described in contemporaneous aviation and FBI records.<ref name="9/11Report"/><ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Because Lewin was killed before Flight 11 crashed into the [[World Trade Center]]'s ''North Tower'', he is generally identified as the first victim of the September 11 attacks.<ref name="Aish2026"/><ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
His best friend, Marco Greenberg, later remembered Lewin as possessing an unusual combination of intelligence, physical strength, courage and character. Greenberg described him as someone capable of simultaneously being a devoted father, an outstanding student and a highly accomplished military reservist.<ref name="NewsNation2026">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ7gN4Rvv_4|title=Danny Lewin: The first 9/11 victim, who fought back|publisher=NewsNation|date=September 11, 2026}}</ref><ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
===Akamai and the Internet===
Lewin's technological legacy became particularly significant in the aftermath of the attacks. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center, millions of people attempted to access news organizations, government agencies and other websites to obtain information and determine the safety of family members and friends. The resulting surge in Internet traffic placed enormous strain on websites and networks.
Akamai's distributed Internet infrastructure helped many heavily trafficked websites remain accessible during this period. Lewin's work on consistent hashing had contributed to the underlying technology that enabled Akamai to distribute Web content across a large network of servers.<ref name="Aish2026"/><ref name="Akamai"/>
Akamai later became a major provider of content delivery and cloud security services. Lewin was named on 25 United States patents.<ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Akamai maintains a memorial to Lewin describing him as exceptionally brilliant, driven and competitive. The company has continued to commemorate his contributions to its technology and founding.<ref name="Akamai"/>
==Personal life==
Lewin was survived by his wife, Anne, and their two sons, Eitan and Itamar, who were five and eight years old, respectively, at the time of the attacks.<ref name=Ynet/><ref name=Akamai/><ref name=5TJT>{{cite web|author=Jager, Ron|url=http://www.5tjt.com/local-news/11694-danny-lewin-the-first-victim-of-911|title=Danny Lewin: The First Victim Of 9/11|publisher=Five Towns Jewish Times|date=September 8, 2011}}</ref>
His remains were identified from the [[World Trade Center site]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2004/07/11/remains-of-first-911-victim-are-idd/|title=REMAINS OF FIRST 9/11 VICTIM ARE ID'D|author=Uri Dan|work=[[New York Post]]|date=July 11, 2004}}</ref>
==Memorials and honors==
Lewin's name is inscribed at the [[National September 11 Memorial & Museum]] at the North Pool, Panel N-75, among the victims of Flight 11.
After his death, the intersection of Main and Vassar streets in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], was renamed Danny Lewin Square in his honor.<ref name=MIT>{{cite web |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V122/N47/lewinFRANKDONE.47p.html |title=Volume 122, Issue 47 |work=The Tech |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]}}</ref>
The award for the best student-written paper at the ACM [[Symposium on Theory of Computing]] was renamed the Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award in his honor.<ref name=UniversityLasVegas/>
Lewin's life and work were also memorialized by colleagues and friends, including on anniversaries of the September 11 attacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.umass.edu/news/latest-news/911-personal-remembrance-prof-ramesh-sitaraman|title=9/11: A Personal Remembrance|first=Ramesh|last=Sitaraman|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Amherst]]|date=September 11, 2011}}</ref>
==In popular culture==
Canadian actor Brad Hampton portrayed Lewin in the [[BBC]] docudrama ''[[Zero Hour (2004 TV series)|Zero Hour]]'', Season 1, Episode 2, "The Last Hour of Flight 11" (2004).<ref>{{cite web|title="Zero Hour" The Last Hour of Flight 11 (TV Episode 2004) – Full Cast|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0754391/fullcredits/|publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>
Lewin is the subject of the 2013 biography ''No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet'' by Molly Knight Raskin.<ref>{{cite book |title=No Better Time|url=https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/molly-knight-raskin/no-better-time/9780306821677/ |publisher=Da Capo Press |date=2017|isbn=9780306821677 |last1=Raskin |first1=Molly Knight }}</ref>
==Awards==
1995 – The Technion named him the year's Outstanding Student in Computer Engineering.<ref name=invent/>
1998 – Morris Joseph Levin Award for Best Masterworks Thesis Presentation at MIT.<ref name="Aish2026"/>
The ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing's best student paper award was subsequently named the Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award in his honor.<ref name=UniversityLasVegas/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
[http://www.akamai.com/dl/technical_publications/ConsistenHashingandRandomTreesDistributedCachingprotocolsforrelievingHotSpotsontheworldwideweb.pdf Consistent hashing for relieving hot spots on the world wide web], Akamai Technologies
[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4120871,00.html Daniel was an inspiration], Ynetnews
[http://www.akamai.com/dl/technical_publications/network_overview_osr.pdf The Akamai Network: A Platform for High-Performance Internet Applications], Erik Nygren, Ramesh K. Sitaraman, and Jennifer Sun, ACM SIGOPS ''Operating Systems Review'', Vol. 44, No. 3, July 2010
[[Category:911]]
[[Category:Israeli-Americans]]
==Early life==
Lewin was born on May 14, 1970, in [[Denver]], Colorado, to a [[American Jews|Jewish]] family. He was one of three brothers. He moved to [[Israel]] with his family at age 14 and spent the remainder of his childhood living in [[Jerusalem]]. He completed his secondary education at an [[ORT Israel|ORT]] high school.<ref name=Ynet>{{cite news |title=Daniel was a very special man |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-1114088,00.html |first=Efrat |last=Weiss |date=12 September 2001 |access-date=12 September 2011|work=[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]|publisher=Ynet!|language=Hebrew}}</ref><ref name=forward>{{cite web|url=https://forward.com/israel/349423/the-life-and-loss-of-daniel-lewin-web-genius-and-9-11s-first-victim/|title=The Life and Loss of Daniel Lewin, Web Genius and 9/11’s ‘First Victim’|work=The Forward}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths LEWIN, DANIEL M.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/classified/paid-notice-deaths-lewin-daniel-m.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 17, 2001}}</ref>
At age 14, Lewin made [[aliyah]] to Israel. After completing high school, he enlisted in the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) and served in the elite ''Sayeret Matkal'' commando unit, eventually becoming an officer and rising to the rank of captain.<ref name=Ynet/><ref name=DailyNews>{{cite news |title=Ex-Israeli commando tried to halt unfolding hijacking|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/victim-died-hero-flt-11-ex-israeli-commando-halt-unfolding-hijacking-article-1.566014|author1=Sisk, Richard |author2=el-Faizy, Monique|newspaper=New York Daily News|location=New York City |date=July 24, 2004}}</ref><ref name="Aish2026"/>
==Career==
After being discharged from the army, Lewin studied electronic engineering at the [[Technion – Israel Institute of Technology]] in [[Haifa]] while working at [[IBM]]'s Israel Haifa Research Lab there. He became a full-time research fellow and project leader and developed the Genesys system, a processor-verification tool used by IBM and other technology companies.<ref name=invent>{{cite web|url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/daniel-lewin|title=Daniel Lewin|publisher=[[National Inventors Hall of Fame]]}}</ref><ref name=Akamai>{{cite web|title=Akamai Remembers Danny Lewin|url=http://www.akamai.com/html/about/management_dl.html|publisher=[[Akamai Technologies]]|date=2006}}</ref>
Lewin received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] and a [[Bachelor of Science]], [[Latin honors|''summa cum laude'']], from the Technion and was named the university's outstanding student in Computer Engineering in 1995.<ref name=invent/> In 1996, he moved to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], to begin doctoral studies at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]. There, working with his advisor [[F. Thomson Leighton]], he developed mathematical techniques involving ''consistent hashing'', an algorithmic approach that helped distribute Internet requests efficiently and reduce server congestion.<ref name=UniversityLasVegas>{{cite web | url=http://www.egr.unlv.edu/~bein/SIGACT/lewin.html | first=Tom | last=Leighton | year=2002|publisher=[[University of Nevada, Las Vegas]]|title=Remarks made by Tom Leighton to commemorate the naming of the STOC Best Student Paper Award in honor of the late Daniel Lewin}}</ref>
In 1998, Lewin, Leighton and other partners founded ''Akamai Technologies'', with Lewin serving as the company's chief technology officer and a board member.<ref name=Akamai/> The company's technology became an important part of the infrastructure used to distribute Internet content and manage heavy traffic.
==Death and legacy==
===September 11 attacks===
On September 11, 2001, aged 31, Lewin was traveling aboard ''American Airlines Flight 11'' from [[Boston Logan International Airport]] to [[Los Angeles International Airport]] for a business meeting.<ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Lewin was seated in business class near hijackers [[Mohamed Atta]], [[Abdulaziz al-Omari]], and [[Satam al-Suqami]]. According to the [[9/11 Commission Report]], Lewin attempted to confront the hijackers seated in front of him, possibly Atta or al-Omari. Lewin, who had military experience with Sayeret Matkal, tried to stop the hijacking without realizing that al-Suqami was seated directly behind him.<ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Lewin was stabbed by al-Suqami, who was seated behind him. Flight attendants communicating with airline officials from the aircraft reported that Lewin's throat had been slashed. The circumstances have also been described in contemporaneous aviation and FBI records.<ref name="9/11Report"/><ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Because Lewin was killed before Flight 11 crashed into the [[World Trade Center]]'s ''North Tower'', he is generally identified as the first victim of the September 11 attacks.<ref name="Aish2026"/><ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
His best friend, Marco Greenberg, later remembered Lewin as possessing an unusual combination of intelligence, physical strength, courage and character. Greenberg described him as someone capable of simultaneously being a devoted father, an outstanding student and a highly accomplished military reservist.<ref name="NewsNation2026">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ7gN4Rvv_4|title=Danny Lewin: The first 9/11 victim, who fought back|publisher=NewsNation|date=September 11, 2026}}</ref><ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
===Akamai and the Internet===
Lewin's technological legacy became particularly significant in the aftermath of the attacks. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center, millions of people attempted to access news organizations, government agencies and other websites to obtain information and determine the safety of family members and friends. The resulting surge in Internet traffic placed enormous strain on websites and networks.
Akamai's distributed Internet infrastructure helped many heavily trafficked websites remain accessible during this period. Lewin's work on consistent hashing had contributed to the underlying technology that enabled Akamai to distribute Web content across a large network of servers.<ref name="Aish2026"/><ref name="Akamai"/>
Akamai later became a major provider of content delivery and cloud security services. Lewin was named on 25 United States patents.<ref name="JerusalemPost2026"/>
Akamai maintains a memorial to Lewin describing him as exceptionally brilliant, driven and competitive. The company has continued to commemorate his contributions to its technology and founding.<ref name="Akamai"/>
==Personal life==
Lewin was survived by his wife, Anne, and their two sons, Eitan and Itamar, who were five and eight years old, respectively, at the time of the attacks.<ref name=Ynet/><ref name=Akamai/><ref name=5TJT>{{cite web|author=Jager, Ron|url=http://www.5tjt.com/local-news/11694-danny-lewin-the-first-victim-of-911|title=Danny Lewin: The First Victim Of 9/11|publisher=Five Towns Jewish Times|date=September 8, 2011}}</ref>
His remains were identified from the [[World Trade Center site]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2004/07/11/remains-of-first-911-victim-are-idd/|title=REMAINS OF FIRST 9/11 VICTIM ARE ID'D|author=Uri Dan|work=[[New York Post]]|date=July 11, 2004}}</ref>
==Memorials and honors==
Lewin's name is inscribed at the [[National September 11 Memorial & Museum]] at the North Pool, Panel N-75, among the victims of Flight 11.
After his death, the intersection of Main and Vassar streets in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], was renamed Danny Lewin Square in his honor.<ref name=MIT>{{cite web |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V122/N47/lewinFRANKDONE.47p.html |title=Volume 122, Issue 47 |work=The Tech |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]}}</ref>
The award for the best student-written paper at the ACM [[Symposium on Theory of Computing]] was renamed the Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award in his honor.<ref name=UniversityLasVegas/>
Lewin's life and work were also memorialized by colleagues and friends, including on anniversaries of the September 11 attacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.umass.edu/news/latest-news/911-personal-remembrance-prof-ramesh-sitaraman|title=9/11: A Personal Remembrance|first=Ramesh|last=Sitaraman|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Amherst]]|date=September 11, 2011}}</ref>
==In popular culture==
Canadian actor Brad Hampton portrayed Lewin in the [[BBC]] docudrama ''[[Zero Hour (2004 TV series)|Zero Hour]]'', Season 1, Episode 2, "The Last Hour of Flight 11" (2004).<ref>{{cite web|title="Zero Hour" The Last Hour of Flight 11 (TV Episode 2004) – Full Cast|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0754391/fullcredits/|publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>
Lewin is the subject of the 2013 biography ''No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet'' by Molly Knight Raskin.<ref>{{cite book |title=No Better Time|url=https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/molly-knight-raskin/no-better-time/9780306821677/ |publisher=Da Capo Press |date=2017|isbn=9780306821677 |last1=Raskin |first1=Molly Knight }}</ref>
==Awards==
1995 – The Technion named him the year's Outstanding Student in Computer Engineering.<ref name=invent/>
1998 – Morris Joseph Levin Award for Best Masterworks Thesis Presentation at MIT.<ref name="Aish2026"/>
The ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing's best student paper award was subsequently named the Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award in his honor.<ref name=UniversityLasVegas/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
[http://www.akamai.com/dl/technical_publications/ConsistenHashingandRandomTreesDistributedCachingprotocolsforrelievingHotSpotsontheworldwideweb.pdf Consistent hashing for relieving hot spots on the world wide web], Akamai Technologies
[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4120871,00.html Daniel was an inspiration], Ynetnews
[http://www.akamai.com/dl/technical_publications/network_overview_osr.pdf The Akamai Network: A Platform for High-Performance Internet Applications], Erik Nygren, Ramesh K. Sitaraman, and Jennifer Sun, ACM SIGOPS ''Operating Systems Review'', Vol. 44, No. 3, July 2010
[[Category:911]]
[[Category:Israeli-Americans]]