Upon receiving a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science , summa cum laude , in 1995 , 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 consistent hashing , an innovative algorithm for optimizing Internet traffic . These algorithms became the basis for Akamai Technologies , which the two founded in 1998 . Lewin served as the company 's chief technology officer and a board member , and during the height of the Internet boom achieved great wealth . He was posthumously named one of the most influential figures of the Internet age . Lewin was reportedly stabbed aboard American Airlines Flight 11 as it was hijacked during the September 11 attacks . A 2001 FAA memo suggests he may have been stabbed by Satam al-Suqami after attempting to foil the hijacking . According to the FAA , Lewin was seated in business class in seat 9B , close to hijackers Mohamed Atta , Abdulaziz al-Omari 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 was stabbed by one of the hijackers , probably Satam al Suqami , who was seated directly behind him . The commission speculates that this may have occurred during an attempt by Lewin to confront one of the hijackers in front of him , not knowing that al Suqami was sitting just behind him . Lewin was identified as the first victim of the September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Daniel Lewin