THE FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD INVENTOR OF EMAIL – DR. SHIVA AYYADURAI – A RAINBOW OF ROLE MODELS {WEDNESDAY SERIES}
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Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Email and Honor the 14-Year-Old Child Inventor of Email – Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai –A RAINBOW OF ROLE MODELS {WEDNESDAY SERIES}

August 30, 1982 is the official anniversary of the invention of email – the system as we know it today.
In 1978, Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, then a 14-year-old boy, was working as a full-time research fellow (while finishing high school) at what is now known as Rutgers Medical School in Newark, NJ. This was before he arrived at MIT in September of 1981.
At Rutgers, the boy invented email – the system as we know it today – when he was the first to convert the old-fashioned paper-based, interoffice mail system into its electronic equivalent when he wrote 50,000 lines of code capturing all of those features – inbox, outbox, folders, attachment, memo (to, from, subject, cc, bcc), address book, etc., and was the first to come up with the term “EMAIL,” which he used to name this system.
This fully-fledged system was immediately useful to the hospital and was actually used and deployed, unlike the simple messaging system used at Arpanet, which was at best a caveman version of Reddit and which was not immediately useful to anyone not involved in making weapons of war. In fact, in 1977 “experts” of the time had concluded it would be “impossible” to create a full-scale emulation of the interoffice/inter-organizational mail system.
When Shiva Ayyadurai came to MIT in September of 1981, the MIT Tech Talk – the official newspaper of the MIT Administration – recognized his creation of email on its front page. He was among three students who were highlighted in the incoming class of 1,041 students. In 1981, Shiva Ayyadurai was elected Freshman Class President and was invited to the home of MIT’s President Paul E. Gray – who was then on President Reagan’s White House Science Council. Dr. Gray was aware of his invention and advised Shiva Ayyadurai to Copyright his invention pursuant to the newly passed Computer Software Act of 1980. Shiva Ayyadurai followed Dr. Gray’s advice and did just that. Even so, Dr. Gray was disappointed that the US Supreme Court did not recognize software patents (which would occur only in 1994).
Regardless, Shiva Ayyadurai followed the rules of the day, and on August 30, 1982, he was issued the first U.S. Copyright for “Email: Computer Program for Electronic Mail System” for his 1978 invention – which officially recognized him as the inventor of email – the system which we all know and use today.

Those are the indisputable facts: He was the first to write the code to emulate the entire interoffice mail system; He was the first to name it “email;” He was the first to get intellectual property protection for his invention at a time when Copyright was the only way to protect software inventions. It is undeniable that he invented the email system that is in use worldwide every day. All of the facts and primary sources are documented on InventorOfEmail.com and WhoInventedEmail.com – with testimony from luminaries such as Noam Chomsky, Desh Deshpande, Stephen Chow, etc. All of the supportive documentation is at the Smithsonian.
In November of 2011, TIME magazine published an article titled “The Man Who Invented Email.” After which, on February 16, 2012, the National Museum of American History (NMAH) at the Smithsonian sought and accepted all the documentation (computer tapes, code, papers, etc.) into its archives. This was a great American honor.
Today, it is a historical imperative that the invention of email – the system invented by Shiva Ayyadurai – be celebrated. Email was born out of solving a civilian communications problem in the office environment of a small medical college, not one for perpetuating war. As Arvind Gupta – Fmr. Advisor to the Prime Minister of India explained why the rightful credit to the invention of email matters:
“Why does academic credit matter? Because the journey matters, the motivation matters, and history matters to generations of inventors, dreamers, and entrepreneurs who deserve to know the truth. Big change happens in small places when opportunity meets people who are driven to find answers. That’s how email, as we know it, came to be.”
It’s time to celebrate that email was invented by this 14-year-old boy in Newark, NJ, before he came to MIT and for an entirely peaceful civilian purpose.
Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Email. Celebrate the 14-year-old child who invented email! If you would like a signed copy from Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai of the Email Copyright Certificate from the the U.S. Government click here and order.
Dr.SHIVA Ayyadurai” <response@mails.vashiva.com>
Thank you, Dr. James Leemann, for sharing this week’s role model.
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I am a proud nerd (as my beautiful wife and daughter have told me) investment and finance blogger with an N.C. State, Chemical Engineering, University Rutgers, MBA and Harvard University, Advanced Management education.
I left a corporate career because I desired to make a difference as a speaker and writer. I was blessed to be coached and mentored by strong women and men in my family and professional life. It is my time to serve and give back.
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