Thomas A. DeFanti, PhD, is a recall research scientist at UCSD’s Calit2/Qualcomm Institute, and a distinguished professor emeritus of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He received the 1988 ACM Outstanding Contribution Award, became an ACM Fellow in 1994, and was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award from The Ohio State University in 2018.

From 1973 to 2004, Tom and Dan Sandin founded and built the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory, supporting 44 graduate students and ten staff and faculty by the 1990s. They conceived the CAVE virtual reality theater in 1991. Tom collaborated with Larry Smarr at NCSA, becoming the first visiting computer science researcher there, and contributed to the development of advanced visualization and virtual reality systems.

In 2005, Tom moved to UC San Diego, where he and artist Greg Dawe designed and built the StarCAVE, NexCAVE, WAVE, and SunCAVE VR systems. His work with researchers like John Graham and Dima Mishin led to the development of Nautilus, a globally distributed Kubernetes hypercluster supporting AI and machine learning research.

Tom has been deeply involved in national and international networking efforts, contributing to the development of high-speed research networks through initiatives like StarLight and CENIC. He co-leads the Prototype National Research Platform and CHASE-CI projects, supporting a community-owned supercomputer spanning over 75 institutions.

With a legacy in computer graphics dating back to the early 1970s, Tom has influenced fields ranging from scientific visualization to international networking. His contributions to SIGGRAPH and Supercomputing conferences, along with his work on global research networks, have shaped the landscape of research computing for decades. His ongoing efforts continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in networked science and immersive visualization.