Ed Catmull, cofounder of Pixar Animation Studios, was president of Pixar for 33 years, and also served as president of Walt Disney Animation Studios for 13 of those years. Previously, he was vice President of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he managed development in the areas of computer graphics, video editing, video games, and digital audio. He is an active consultant and speaker.
Catmull's New York Times bestselling book, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration (2014) was described by Fast Company as "what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever."
Founder of three of the leading centers of computer graphics research, Catmull is one of the architects of the RenderMan rendering software, which has been used in over 90% of Academy Award® winning films for Visual Effects over the past 20 years. He is an ACM Turing Award Laureate, has been honored with five Academy Awards, and is a CHM Fellow. In addition, he has received numerous awards from several professional organizations in which he is active.
Catmull earned BS degrees in physics and computer science and a PhD in computer science from the University of Utah. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Utah and Johns Hopkins University.
