Ronald Baecker

Ronald Baecker
Born	October 7, 1942 (age 70) Kenosha, Wisconsin
Citizenship	U.S.
Fields	Computer science; Electrical Engineering
Institutions	University of Toronto
Alma mater	MIT
Notable awards	Named one of the "60 Pioneers of Computer Graphics"

Ronald Baecker (born October 7, 1942) is a tenured professor of Computer Science (cross-appointed to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and to the Faculty of Management) at the University of Toronto, and has held these positions since 1989. He was an early faculty member of the Dynamic Graphics Project at University of Toronto. He is the founder of the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) and the Technologies for Aging Gracefully Lab (TAGlab), both at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Baecker is an expert in human-computer interaction (“HCI”) and user interface (“UI”) design. His research interests include:

· Extensive work on electronic memory aids and other cognitive prostheses.

· Computer applications in education and computer-supported cooperative learning.

· Multimedia and new media.

· Software visualization.

· Groupware and computer-supported cooperative work.

· Computer animation and interactive computer graphics.

· Computer literacy, as well as, how computers can help us work better and safer.

· Entrepreneurship, the management of small business and the stimulation of innovation.

· The social implications of computing, especially the issue of responsibility when humans and computers interact.

Ron Baecker was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin on October 7, 1942. When he was four, his family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His scientific career got off to an early start, when, in April 1958, he was awarded third prize in the American Chemical Society Chemistry test (Pittsburgh Section). Baecker went on to win several other science honors while at Taylor Allderdice High School, including attending the Westinghouse Science Honors Institute (Oct, 1958 to April 1959), and the Sun-Telegraph, Pittsburgh and Allegheny Count High Schools Scholastic Award in Science (1959).

In 1960, Baecker began work as a summer research assistant at Koppers Company Research Labs. He was awarded a B.S. degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“MIT”) in 1963 and received an M.S. degree in the then burgeoning field of Electrical Engineering, again from MIT in 1964. At the end of 1964, Baecker traveled to the University of Heidelberg in Germany to further his studies in applied mathematics where he stayed until July 1965. He returned to his alma mater to study Computer Science at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and received his Ph.D. in June 1969.

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