Mary Whitton

Mary C. Whitton is an American computer scientist specializing in computer graphics and human–computer interaction, especially concerning redirected walking in virtual worlds. She is a research professor of computer science at the University of North Carolina, the co-founder of two graphics hardware companies, and the former president of ACM SIGGRAPH.[1]

Education and career

Whitton majored in religion as an undergraduate at Duke University,[2] graduating in 1970.[3] She initially worked as a middle-school mathematics teacher, and earned a teaching-related master's degree from North Carolina State University in 1974.[4] In the same year, she married computer graphics researcher Nick England, and through him became interested in computer graphics.[5] In 1976, she began studying computer graphics at North Carolina State, eventually earning a second master's degree in 1984. Meanwhile, she and England cofounded Ikonas Graphics Systems in 1978,[4] which made what has been described as the first general-purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU).[5]

Ikonas was purchased by Adage, Inc., in 1982,[5] and in 1986 Whitton and England cofounded another company, Trancept Systems, producing graphics hardware for Sun Microsystems computers. Trancept was in turn acquired by Sun Microsystems a year later,[6] and Whitton became a director of marketing for Sun.[4]

Whitton became president of ACM SIGGRAPH for the 1993–1995 term.[1][7] In 1995, she took her present position as research professor at the University of North Carolina.[4][2] With Fred Brooks, she founded a research center in "effective virtual environments" in approximately 1998.[2]

Recognition

Whitton was a recipient of the 2013 SIGGRAPH Outstanding Service Award.[7] The North Carolina State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering elected Whitton to their alumni hall of fame in 2016.[4]

References
  1. "Mary C. Whitton, Research Professor", People, University of North Carolina Computer Science, retrieved 2023-05-30
  2. "Member Profile: Mary Whitton", Inside SIGGRAPH, ACM SIGGRAPH, retrieved 2023-05-30
  3. "Mary Whitton", IEEE Xplore, IEEE, April 2020, retrieved 2023-05-30
  4. "Mary C. Whitton", Hall of Fame 2016, NC State University Electrical and Computer Engineering, retrieved 2023-05-30
  5. England, Nick (May 2020), "The graphics system for the 80's", IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 40 (3): 112–119, doi:10.1109/mcg.2020.2983816
  6. Trancept Systems Inc., NC State University Electrical and Computer Engineering, retrieved 2023-05-30
  7. SIGGRAPH 2013 Outstanding Service Award: Whitton, ACM SIGGRAPH, retrieved 2023-05-30
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