Stanford 3D Computer Graphics Pioneer Wins $1M Turing Award

March 22, 2020

In recognition of his “revolutionary impact” on computer-generated animation, Stanford computer scientist and engineer Patrick M. “Pat” Hanrahan will share the 2019 Turing Award with one-time mentor and Pixar colleague Ed Catmull.

“The announcement came totally out of the blue and I am very proud to accept the Turing Award,” said Hanrahan, who is the Canon Professor in the School of Engineering and a professor of computer science and of electrical engineering at Stanford University. “It is a great honor, but I must give credit to a generation of computer graphics researchers and practitioners whose work and ideas influenced me over the years.”

Hanrahan splits the award and its $1 million prize with one-time mentor and colleague Edward “Ed” Catmull, former president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. The pair’s recognition marks only the second time that the award has been given for computer graphics.

Read the entire Stanford News Story by Andrew Myers HERE

See Pat Hanrahan’s mediaX research project “Virtual Sensor Networks” HERE

Feature Image: Andrew Brodhead