Andrew Charles Harter (born 5 April 1961 in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England) is a British

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

, best known as the founder of RealVNC, where he was CEO until March 2018.

Education and early life

Born in Yorkshire in 1961, Harter attended the

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (day school, no boarding) for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabet ...

. He went on to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he studied Mathematics and Computer Science as an undergraduate student of

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

and a postgraduate student of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

. His doctoral thesis, supervised by

Andy Hopper Sir Andrew Hopper (born 9 May 1953) is a British-Polish computer technologist and entrepreneur. He is Chairman of lowRISC CIC, a Commissioner of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, former Treasurer and Vice-President of the Royal S ...

, was judged the best UK Computer Science dissertation of 1990.

Career and research

Harter is probably best known for

Virtual Network Computing VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a graphical desktop-sharing system that uses the RFB protocol, Remote Frame Buffer protocol (RFB) to remotely control another computer. It transmits the computer keyboard, keyboard and computer mouse, mouse in ...

(VNC), a ubiquitous remote access technology he developed in the mid 90s. He founded RealVNC in 2002 and was its chief executive until March 2018. In prior years he worked on embedding the technology in

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

products. Under his leadership, in 2013 the company received its third

Queen's Awards for Enterprise The King's Awards for Enterprise, previously known as The Queen's Award for Enterprise, is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting oppor ...

in three years and he was named the Cambridge Businessman of the Year in 2011. Harter was elected a Fellow of

St Edmund's College, Cambridge St Edmund's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. Founded in 1896, it is the second-oldest of the three Cambridge colleges oriented to mature students, which accept ...

in 2001 and appointed a visiting fellow at the

University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory The Department of Computer Science and Technology, formerly the Computer Laboratory, is the computer science department of the University of Cambridge. it employed 56 faculty members, 45 support staff, 105 research staff, and about 205 researc ...

in 2002.

Awards and honours

In 2002 he was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871,Engin ...

(FIET), where he served as a trustee between 2014 and 2017. In 2010 he was awarded the Silver Medal of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

in recognition of an outstanding and sustained contribution to software engineering and commercialisation and in 2013 he led the team that won the academy's prestigious

MacRobert Award The MacRobert Award is regarded as the leading prize recognising UK innovation in engineering by corporations. The winning team receives a gold medal and a cash sum of £50,000. The annual award process begins with an invitation to companies to ...

. In 2011 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in United K ...

(FREng), where he served as a trustee between 2013 and 2016. In 2014 he was appointed Chair of the

Cambridge Network Cambridge Network is a not-for-profit membership organisation that brings people together from business and academia to exchange ideas, foster collaboration and build partnerships for shared success. Through networking, events, training and recruitm ...

and in 2015 he was awarded an Honorary

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

degree from

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...

and also became a trustee of

The Centre for Computing History The Centre for Computing History is a computer museum in Cambridge, England, established to create a permanent public exhibition telling the story of the Information Age. Overview The museum acts as a repository for vintage computers and rela ...

. In 2016 he was awarded the

Faraday Medal The Faraday Medal is a top international medal awarded by the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) (previously called the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)). As one of the world's most prestigious awards in engineering, it ...

, the most prestigious award of the IET. Harter was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded a ...

for services to engineering. He delivered the

Turing Lecture The Turing Talk, previously known as the Turing Lecture, is an annual award lecture delivered by a noted speaker on the subject of Computer Science. Sponsored and co-hosted by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the British Comp ...

in February 2018, and in March 2018 became the

High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1974 high sheriffs of Cambridgeshire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the ...

. In 2019, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire appoints new deputies
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harter, Andrew Charles 1961 births Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge British computer scientists Deputy lieutenants of Cambridgeshire English engineers Fellows of the British Computer Society Fellows of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of St Edmund's College, Cambridge High sheriffs of Cambridgeshire Living people Members of the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory Commanders of the Order of the British Empire