History of CS at the U of U

"Almost every influential person in the modern computer-graphics community either passed through the University of Utah or came into contact with it in some way." - The Algorithmic Image: Graphic Visions of the Computer Age, by Robert Rivlin
The University of Utah's School of Computing, has a long and prominent record of high impact research. This started with pioneering work in computer graphics, computer architecture, and digital audio, along with being the fourth node on the ARPAnet, the predecessor of today's Internet. Current work includes both classical computer science and a number of activities that lie between traditional areas and disciplines.

Major Contributions by Faculty and Alumni

  • Pioneering work in computer animation, digital music recording and graphical user interfaces.

  • Ivan Sutherland, inventor of the first interactive graphics program, Sketchpad. ACM Turing Award (1988) winner for numerous contributions to computer graphics.

  • Ed Catmull, pioneer in computer animation. Co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios Academy Award recipient for "pioneering inventions in Digital Image Compositing".

  • Alan Ashton, founder of WordPerfect.

  • Alan Kay, Developed the notion of a graphical user interface,

  • Tom Stockham, Created the field of digital recording. Founder of Soundstream Inc., which pioneered digital music recording and editing that led to the large-scale production of compact discs and CD players. Referred to as The Father Of Digital Recording.