Ray Tomlinson Is Dead

ORIGIN
Ray Tomlinson was an American computer programmer, inventor and electrical engineer. He was credited as the inventor of modern email and for using the “@” symbol to connect a username to the destination. Tomlinson was born on April 23, 1941 in Amsterdam, New York. He grew up in Vail Mills and attended Broadalbin Central School in Broadalbin, New York. Tomlinson studied at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There he participated in an internship program with IBM and graduated in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Two years later, he completed a master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT.

CAREER
Tomlinson started out working for the research and development company, Bolt, Beranek and Newman in 1967. He helped with the development of the company’s TENEX operating system. In 1971, Tomlinson was able to combine the CPYNET & SNDMSG programs to implement the first email program on the ARPANET system. He also chose the “@” symbol to separate a user from the host. When asked, Tomlinson claimed that the first email sent was gibberish and was entirely forgettable.

PERSONAL
Ray Tomlinson passed away on March 5, 2016 at the age of 74. His reported cause of death was heart attack. He’s survived by wife and kids. Tomlinson has won numerous awards over the years including the George R. Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award, IEEE Internet Award, and the Prince of Asturias award. He was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2012.

Ray Tomlinson Bio, Net Worth, Height