Michael J. Freedman

Michael J. Freedman is an American computer scientist who is a Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. He is notable for designing systems such as the Coral Content Distribution Network and TimescaleDB. His research interests include distributed systems, networking, and security.

In 2001 and 2002, Freedman earned an S.B. and a M.Eng., respectively, at MIT. In 2005 and 2007, he earned an M.S. and a Ph.D., respectively, from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (NYU). At NYU, Freedman completed his doctoral studies under David Mazières, who Freedman worked with to release the Coral Content Distribution Network in 2004. In 2007, he became a professor at Princeton University.

Along with his doctoral advisor David Mazières, Freedman designed and operated the Coral Content Distribution Network, a peer-to-peer content distribution network that was initially released in 2004 and operated until 2015. In March 2006, Freedman co-founded Illuminics Systems, an information technology company working in the area of IP geolocation and intelligence, with Martin Casado. The company was acquired by Quova, Inc. in November 2006.

Freedman's research interests include distributed systems, networking, and security. In addition to his work with the Coral Content Distribution Network, he has designed systems such as TimescaleDB and JetStream.

In 2011, Freedman was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for designing, building, and prototyping a storage cloud system and for work to increase student diversity at Princeton University. His research involving the design and deployment of geo-distributed systems earned him the Grace Murray Hopper Award in 2018. He was elected as an ACM Fellow in 2019 "for contributions to robust distributed systems for the modern cloud".