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Raymond Samuel Tomlinson (April 23, 1941 – March 5, 2016) was an American computer scientist who implemented the first
email 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 ...
program on the
ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first computer networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the tec ...
system, the precursor to the Internet, in 1971; it was the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to ARPANET. Previously, mail could be sent only to others who used the same computer. To achieve this, he used the @ sign to separate the
username A user is a person who uses a computer or Computer network, network Service (systems architecture), service. A user often has a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name). Some software products provide serv ...
from the name of their machine, a scheme which has been used in email addresses ever since. The
Internet Hall of Fame The Internet Hall of Fame is an honorary lifetime achievement award administered by the Internet Society (ISOC) in recognition of individuals who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the Internet. Overview ...
in its account of his work commented "Tomlinson's email program brought about a complete revolution, fundamentally changing the way people communicate." He is credited with the invention of the TCP three-way handshake which underlies
HTTP HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, wher ...
and many other key
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 ...
protocols.


Early life and education

Tomlinson was born in
Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam () is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam is bordered on the northern and ea ...
, but his family soon moved to the small, unincorporated village of Vail Mills,
Broadalbin, New York Broadalbin is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Fulton County, New York, Fulton County, New York (state), New York, on the eastern border of the county and northwest of Albany, New York, Albany. The town was named after the Br ...
. His father Raymond Tomlinson worked in carpet mills and later worked in the grocery business. His mother Dorothy Tomlinson worked for a dry cleaner. He attended Broadalbin Central School in nearby Broadalbin, New York. Later he attended
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...
(RPI) in
Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...
, where he participated in the co-op program with
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 ...
. He received a bachelor's degree in
electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
from RPI in 1963. After graduating from RPI, he entered the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
(MIT) to continue his electrical engineering education. At MIT, Tomlinson worked in the Speech Communication Group, focusing on
speech synthesis Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal langua ...
. He became interested in computers after seeing students play ''
Spacewar! ''Spacewar!'' is a space combat video game developed in 1962 by Steve Russell in collaboration with Martin Graetz, Wayne Wiitanen, Bob Saunders, Steve Piner, and others. It was written for the newly installed DEC PDP-1 minicomputer at the ...
''. Enthralled by the video game, he spent more time working with digital systems and integrated them into his thesis project. He developed an analog–digital hybrid speech synthesizer as the subject of his thesis for the master's degree in electrical engineering, which he received in 1965.


Career

In 1967, he joined the technology company of Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN; now
Raytheon BBN Raytheon BBN (originally Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc.) is an American research and development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1966, the Franklin Institute awarded the firm the Frank P. Brown Medal, in 1999 BBN received the ...
), where he helped develop the TENEX operating system including the
ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first computer networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the tec ...
Network Control Program, implementations of
Telnet Telnet (sometimes stylized TELNET) is a client-server application protocol that provides access to virtual terminals of remote systems on local area networks or the Internet. It is a protocol for bidirectional 8-bit communications. Its main ...
, and implementations on the self-replicating programs Creeper and Reaper. Tomlinson also developed CPYNET, a file transfer program designed to transmit files between computers connected to the ARPANET. In 1971, he was asked to adapt an existing program called
SNDMSG SNDMSG was an early electronic mail program, chiefly notable because it was used to send what is considered the first networked email. SNDMSG was originally the electronic mail program for a single multi-user time-sharing computer running the TEN ...
—which allowed users to leave messages for others on the same
time-sharing In computing, time-sharing is the Concurrency (computer science), concurrent sharing of a computing resource among many tasks or users by giving each Process (computing), task or User (computing), user a small slice of CPU time, processing time. ...
computer—so that it could run on TENEX. He incorporated
code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...
from CPYNET into SNDMSG, enabling users to send messages to others on ''different'' computers over the network. This innovation marked the creation of the first networked email system. The first email Tomlinson sent was a test message between two computers placed side by side. The content of the message was not preserved, and Tomlinson later described it as insignificant, likely consisting of a random string such as " QWERTYUIOP." This is often misquoted as "The first e-mail was QWERTYUIOP." He later stated, "The test messages were entirely forgettable and I have, therefore, forgotten them." To distinguish destination addresses from local usernames, Tomlinson selected the @ symbol to indicate the recipient's location (user@host), a format that remains standard in email addressing. The symbol was chosen because it was not used in usernames or in TENEX programming, and it intuitively conveyed the intended meaning. The @ sign, which was relatively obscure at the time, was added to the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
's architecture and design collection in 2010, credited to Tomlinson and described as a "defining symbol of the computer age." Initially, the email messaging system was not considered significant. Its development was not directed by his employer, and Tomlinson pursued the idea independently, stating that it "seemed like a neat idea." Upon demonstrating the system to a colleague, he remarked, "Don't tell anyone! This isn't what we're supposed to be working on." Despite its informal origins, the system quickly gained popularity within the ARPANET research community and became one of the network's most enduring applications. Tomlinson later remarked that he was not particularly surprised by the eventual widespread use of email, stating, "I see email being used, by and large, exactly the way I envisioned." Tomlinson said he preferred "email" over "e-mail," joking in a 2010 interview that "I'm simply trying to conserve the world's supply of hyphens" and that "the term has been in use long enough to drop the hyphen."


Later life and death

Tomlinson remained at BBN for the rest of his career, serving as a principal scientist. In his personal life, he maintained a minimal relationship with consumer technology.
Adrienne LaFrance Adrienne LaFrance is an American journalist, executive editor of ''The Atlantic'' and former editor of ''TheAtlantic.com''. Career LaFrance received her B.A. degree in journalism from Michigan State University and an M.S. in journalism from Bo ...
of ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'' described him as a "self-professed Luddite," noting that he did not own a mobile phone and had only recently created a
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
account. Tomlinson died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on March 5, 2016, at his home in
Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base who live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWe ...
, at the age of 74. News of his death drew attention and tributes from the technology community, including a message from
Vint Cerf Vinton Gray Cerf (; born June 23, 1943) is an American Internet pioneer and is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with TCP/IP co-developer Robert Kahn. He has received honorary degrees and awards that inclu ...
, co-developer of the
TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...
protocol and a founding architect of the Internet.


Awards and honors

* In 2000, he received the George R. Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award from the American Computer Museum (with the Computer Science Department of
Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...
). * In 2001, he received a
Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...
from the
International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) is an organization that was founded in 1998 in New York City to recognize and acknowledge excellence in interactive content across emerging technologies. According to the organizati ...
for lifetime achievement. Also in 2001 he was inducted into the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame. * In 2002, ''
Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine * "Discover", a song by Chris Brown from his 2015 album ''Royalty'' Businesses and bran ...
'' magazine awarded him its Innovative Innovating Award of Innovation. * In 2004, he received the
IEEE Internet Award IEEE Internet Award is a Technical Field Award established by the IEEE in June 1999. The award is sponsored by Nokia Corporation. It may be presented annually to an individual or up to three recipients, for exceptional contributions to the ad ...
along with Dave Crocker. * In 2009, he along with Martin Cooper was awarded the
Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...
for scientific and technical research. * In 2011, he was listed 4th in the
MIT150 The MIT150 is a list published by the Boston Globe, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2011, listing 150 of the most significant innovators, inventions or ideas from MIT, its alumni, faculty, ...
list of the top 150 innovators and ideas from
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
. * In 2012, Tomlinson was inducted into the
Internet Hall of Fame The Internet Hall of Fame is an honorary lifetime achievement award administered by the Internet Society (ISOC) in recognition of individuals who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the Internet. Overview ...
by the
Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. It has offices in Reston, Virginia, United States, and Geneva, Switzerland. Organization The Internet Society ...
. * In 2022, Email Day, an annual, national holiday was established in honor of Ray Tomlinson and his creation of email. April 23 (Tomlinson's birthday) was chosen.


Notes


Further reading

* * *


External links


Tomlinsons' e-mail webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlinson, Ray 1941 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American inventors American computer programmers American electrical engineers Email Engineers from New York (state) Inventors from New York (state) MIT School of Engineering alumni People from Amsterdam, New York Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Webby Award winners