Oscar 2009: Ed Catmull to Receive Gordon E. Sawyer Award
Ed Catmull, a computer scientist, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, and president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, has been chosen by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive the Gordon E. Sawyer Award "for his lifetime of technical contributions and leadership in the field of computer graphics for the motion picture industry."
The award, an Oscar statuette, will be handed to Catmull at the Scientific and Technical Awards Presentations on Saturday, February 7, 2009, at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills. Bits from the Scientific and Technical Awards presentation will be shown at the Oscar ceremony to be held on February 22 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
The following information about Ed Catmull is from the Academy’s press release:
Catmull founded three of the leading centers of computer graphics research – the computer graphics laboratory at the New York Institute of Technology, the computer division of Lucasfilm Ltd., and Pixar Animation Studios.
In 2000 Catmull, Rob Cook and Loren Carpenter received an Academy Award of Merit (an Oscar statuette) for their significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar’s “RenderMan.” The software, which produces images used in motion pictures from 3D computer descriptions of shape and appearance, has been used in 45 of the last 50 films nominated for an Academy Award in the Visual Effects category.
Catmull had previously received two Scientific and Engineering Awards: in 1992 as part of a team for the development of “RenderMan” software, and in 1995 as part of a team responsible for pioneering inventions in Digital Image Compositing. He also shared a Technical Achievement Award in 2005.
While at Lucasfilm Ltd., Catmull managed development in the areas of computer graphics, video editing, video games and digital audio.
Catmull earned Bachelor of Science degrees in computer science and physics and a Ph.D.in computer science from the University of Utah. In 2005 the University of Utah presented him with a honorary doctoral degree in engineering.
Established in 1981, the Sawyer Award is presented to “an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.” Catmull will be the 22nd recipient of the award.
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Tags: 2009 Oscar, Academy Awards, Ed Catmull, Film Awards, Gordon E. Sawyer Award, Pixar
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Why are those guys relegated to another ceremony? Just a rhetorical question…