Akamai co-founder was on doomed flight

NEW YORK -- Daniel Lewin, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Internet communication company Akamai Technologies, died Tuesday aboard one of the American Airlines flights that crashed as part of an apparent terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

American Airlines confirmed that Lewin was a passenger on American flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles, according to a statement from Akamai. Flight 11, which left Boston at 7:59 a.m. ET, was one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and caused the destruction of the 110-story towers. The flight had 81 passengers and 11 crew members on board.

"Danny was a wonderful human being," said George Conrades, chairman and CEO of Akamai, in a statement. "He will be deeply missed by his many friends at Akamai. Our thoughts and prayers are with Danny's family, friends and colleagues during this time of national tragedy and personal loss."

Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai provides content delivery service for leading Web technology firms. Geographically dispersed Akamai servers deliver advertisements, video, and other high-bandwidth content for the company's clients.

Lewin was 31 years old and is survived by his wife and two sons, Akamai said.

Lewin co-founded Akamai in September, 1988 with Tom Leighton and a number of MIT scientists.

Lewis's MIT master's thesis included some of the core algorithms used by Akamai to more efficiently distribute content to dispersed Internet users.

Akamai statement on Lewin's death

Lewin's official bio

More news on the attacks