Robert Fletcher "Bob" Sproull (born c. 1945) is an American

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 ...

, who worked for

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

where he was director of Oracle Labs in Burlington,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He is currently an adjunct professor at the College of Information and Computer Sciences, at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

Biography

While working towards his B.A. in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1967, Sproull met

Ivan Sutherland Ivan Edward Sutherland (born May 16, 1938) is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer, widely regarded as a pioneer of computer graphics. His early work in computer graphics as well as his teaching with David C. Evans in that subje ...

. Together, they worked on

head-mounted display A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet (see helmet-mounted display for aviation applications), that has a small display optic in front of one (monocular HMD) or each eye (binocular vision, bi ...

s, which led the way for 3-dimensional

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

. Sproull received his master's degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1970, and doctorate in computer science from Stanford in 1977. Sproull worked as a researcher for

Xerox Palo Alto Research Center Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

from December 1973 to August 1977. While at Xerox PARC, he worked on the design of the

Alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

personal computer, the first laser printers, page description languages and the initial PC-type

operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

. In 1973, Sproull and William M. Newman wrote ''Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics''; a second edition was published in 1979. This was the first comprehensive textbook on computer graphics, and was regarded as the graphics "bible," until it was succeeded by Foley and van Dam's '' Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice''. Sproull was an associate professor of computer science at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

. In 1980, Bob Sproull and Ivan Sutherland founded a consulting firm, Sutherland, Sproull and Associates. In 1990,

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...

bought out Sutherland, Sproull and Associates for its patents and key people. This led to the creation of Sun Microsystems Laboratories, where Sproull worked on

asynchronous Asynchrony is any dynamic far from synchronization. If and as parts of an asynchronous system become more synchronized, those parts or even the whole system can be said to be in sync. Asynchrony or asynchronous may refer to: Electronics and com ...

processor design. In 2006 he became director of the laboratories. In 2010 after Sun was purchased by

, it became Oracle Labs. Sproull is also a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

, a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, and has served on the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Scientific Advisory Board. He is a former chair of the

United States National Research Council The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), also known as the National Academies, is a congressionally chartered organization that serves as the collective scientific national academy of the United States. The name i ...

's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB). He has co-authored several books in addition to ''Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics'', such as ''Logical Effort'', and holds 7 patents.

Publications

* Newman, W., Sproull, R. (1979), ''Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics'', Mcgraw-Hill College, . * Molnar, C., Sproull, R., Sutherland, I. (1994), ''Counterflow Pipeline Processor Architecture'',

, Technical Report TR-94-25.

References

External links

Origins of Spline-Based and Anti-Aliased Fonts
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sproull, Bob 1940s births Living people Harvard College alumni Stanford University alumni Carnegie Mellon University faculty Sun Microsystems people Scientists at PARC (company) Computer graphics professionals Computer graphics researchers Virtual reality pioneers Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Computer science writers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Year of birth missing (living people)