Nathaniel S. Borenstein (born September 23, 1957) is an American

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

. He is one of the original designers of the

MIME A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

protocol for formatting multimedia

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

electronic mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

and sent the first e-mail attachment.

Biography

Borenstein received a B.A. in mathematics and religious studies from

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

in 1980, and a Ph.D. in computer science from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

in 1985. Previously he attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

(1974–75),

Deep Springs College Deep Springs College (known simply as Deep Springs or DS) is a private junior college in Deep Springs, California. With the number of undergraduates restricted to 26, the college is one of the smallest institutions of higher education in the U ...

(1975–76), and the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

(1978–79). While at CMU, he co-developed the email component of the

Andrew Project The Andrew Project was a distributed computing environment developed at Carnegie Mellon University beginning in 1982. It was an ambitious project for its time and resulted in an unprecedentedly vast and accessible university computing infrastructu ...

. The Andrew Message System was the first multi-media electronic mail system to become used outside of a laboratory. In 1989 he became a member of technical staff at

Bellcore iconectiv supplies communications providers with network planning and management services. The company’s cloud-based information as a service network and operations management and numbering solutions span trusted communications, digital identi ...

(Bell Communications Research). There he developed a series of standards so the various electronic mail systems could exchange multimedia messages in a common way. He is responsible for sending the first MIME email attachment on March 11, 1992. Borenstein was founder of First Virtual Holdings in 1994, called "the first cyberbank" by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, and NetPOS.com in 2000. He worked at

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

as distinguished engineer starting in 2002 at

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He then became chief scientist at email management company

Mimecast Mimecast Limited is an American–British, UK-domiciled company with subsidiaries in other jurisdictions, specializing in cloud-based email management for Google Workspace, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office 365, including security, arc ...

in June 2010. He is author of ''Programming As If People Mattered: Friendly Programs, Software Engineering, and Other Noble Delusions'' (

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, 1994) . He received the New York University Olive Branch Award for writing about peace in 1990, for an essay about his brief experience as a NATO consultant. His mentors include his doctoral advisor and the director of the Andrew project,

Jim Morris James Samuel Morris Jr. (born January 19, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for two seasons with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although brief, Morris' career is noted for making his ...

, and

Einar Stefferud Einar A. Stefferud (Stef) (11 January 1930 – 22 September 2011) was a computer researcher and entrepreneur, who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly in the areas of IETF RFCs and standards, secure ...

, who initiated the

and First Virtual work.

Personal life

Borenstein lives with his wife, Trina, in

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

and Greenbush, Michigan; they have four grown daughters, and five grandchildren. He has been a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

since 1972. He is a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, named his web server and wireless network "

ahimsa (, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. (also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...

", and has worked for a mix of pacifist, leftist, and

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

causes. He was a child prodigy and had finished most of his high school curriculum by the end of third grade, before being restricted to studies at his own grade level beginning in fourth grade. In 1973, with the help of the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

, he became the first US student ever to be awarded money damages from his principal and school board, in

Bexley, Ohio Bexley is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,928 at the 2020 census. The city is a suburban enclave of Columbus, situated on the banks of Alum Creek east of Columbus's Near East Side. It was founded in 1908 ...

, for violating his

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

in 1972, by sending him home for wearing a

black armband A black armband is an armband that is coloured black to signify that the wearer is in mourning or wishes to identify with the commemoration of a family member or friend who has died. In sport, especially association football, cricket, and Austral ...

on the second anniversary of the

Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings (also known as the Kent State massacre or May 4 massacre"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years before (Ma ...

. He has three brothers,

Eliot Borenstein Eliot Borenstein is an author and professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University. His main interests are Russian contemporary literature and cultural studies, conspiracy theories, and internet culture.Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

winner and professor at NYU; Seth Borenstein, Associated Press Senior Science Reporter; and Joe Borenstein, a contractor and investor.

Authored Requests For Comments (RFCs)

* – MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) * – Implications of MIME for Internet Mail Gateways * – The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a new Medium (April Fools' Day RFC) * – A User Agent Configuration Mechanism for Multimedia Mail Format Information * – MIME Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies * – MIME Part Two: Media Types * – MIME Part Five: Conformance Criteria and Examples

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borenstein, Nathaniel 1957 births American computer businesspeople American computer programmers American computer scientists Carnegie Mellon University alumni Deep Springs College alumni Grinnell College alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Internet Society people Living people Ohio State University alumni People in information technology