Wendy Aylsworth is a technology executive best known for her work in the television and motion picture industry. She has held positions at Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Feature Animation, and Warner Bros. and has filled roles at the Digital Cinema Initiative, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Early life and education

Aylsworth was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and attended the

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of th ...

, where she received her BSCE. She also "holds an MS/MBA (Beta Gamma Sigma) in Managerial Sciences/Strategic Planning from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Career

Her early career was spent in the defense industry, developing computer systems at Lockheed and managing software development at

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...

. In 1989, she moved to

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...

, managing software development for theme park rides. The following year she moved to

Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

as Director of Engineering, coming aboard as Disney was making the transition to digital production, using

CAPS Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

to produce

The Rescuers Down Under ''The Rescuers Down Under'' is a 1990 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to ''The Rescuers'' (1977). In ''The Rescuers Down Under'', Bernard and Bianc ...

. In 1994, she moved to

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

as director of technology in the feature animation division." Five years later, she became Vice President, Technology for Warner Bros. In 2008, she was promoted to Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Technical Operations. She was a leader of the Digital Cinema Initiative, including being chair of SMPTE's D-Cinema Technology Committee. She also led the effort to upgrade theaters to use High Frame Rate technology in preparation to show Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In 2012, Aylsworth was named President of the

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded by Charles Francis Jenkins in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and e ...

(SMPTE). She was the first woman to hold that position. She is a Lifetime Fellow of that organization. In 2013, she was invited to join the Science and Technology Council of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

, having become a member in 2012. As of 2016, Aylsworth is the CEO of Walden Pond, which provides technology consulting.

Recognition & awards

In 2013, Aylsworth served her second term on the Board of Governors of the Television Academy. In 2016, Aylsworth received the Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award from the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California. Aylsworth had worked with Lambert during her time at Disney. In 2018, Aylsworth was awarded The Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award by the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aylsworth, Wendy Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Emmy Award winners Warner Bros. Animation people Walt Disney Animation Studios people American women chief executives Marshall School of Business alumni