Carl Bass

Carl Bass
Former Autodesk CEO Carl Bass
Born	May 18, 1957 New York, New York
Residence	Berkeley, Calif.
Occupation	Former CEO and President of Autodesk
Height	6'4" (193 cm)
Spouse(s)	Daryl Austern

Carl Bass is a former president and chief executive officer of Autodesk, Inc., a maker of professional 3D design software and consumer applications, and was a co-founder of Ithaca Software, which commercialized HOOPS, a 3D graphics system. Bass has been credited with expanding Autodesk beyond its core software through acquisitions and new product developments and transitioning from 2D to 3D model-based design.

Bass was born in New York, New York to a chemist father and school teacher mother. After starting at Cornell University, Bass took a break to build boats, furniture and sculpture in Seattle and Maine for five years. He returned to Cornell and graduated with Bachelor of Arts in mathematics in 1983.

In 1981, Bass co-founded a computer graphics company called Flying Moose Systems and Graphics Ltd., which became Ithaca Software in 1986. The company commercialized HOOPS, a 3D graphics system originally developed at Cornell University in the mid-1980s. Bass served as Ithaca Software’s chief technology officer and CEO. He joined Autodesk when the company acquired Ithaca Software in 1993, serving as the chief architect for AutoCAD. In 1995, Bass was forced out by Autodesk’s then president and CEO Carol Bartz, only to be rehired five months later, after top Autodesk engineers said they needed Bass’s software development skills.

Bass left Autodesk in 1999 to launch Buzzsaw, an online service for management of construction projects, where he served as president and CEO. Bass returned to Autodesk when it acquired the company in 2001. Since then, Bass has held a number of high-level positions at Autodesk, including executive vice president and chief strategy officer (2001 to 2002); senior executive vice president of the Design Solutions Group (2002 to 2004); chief operating officer (2004 to 2006); and interim chief financial officer (2008 to 2009).

In 2006, Carol Bartz stepped down as Autodesk’s president and CEO, naming Bass as her replacement.

During his tenure as CEO, Bass has focused on expanding the company beyond its core AutoCAD software through acquisitions and new product development and transitioning from 2D to 3D design. He has emphasized vertical markets focusing on model-based design, simulation and lifecycle management. Under his direction, Autodesk has introduced consumer-oriented products such as SketchBook, a mobile painting and drawing app with over seven million users as of Nov. 2011. In March 2008, Autodesk was ranked number 25 on Fast Company's list of "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies."