Retrospectives I: the early years in computer graphics at MIT, Lincoln Lab, and Harvard

I am Jan Hurst; welcome to Retrospectives. In early 1988, SIGGRAPH funded a project which was called Milestones, the History of Computer Graphics. We believed it was important to capture the early history since the graphics of tomorrow continues to build upon its past. We established goals, and one result was to begin a series of retrospectives which focus on specific aspects of the industry. Boston seemed like the perfect opportunity to focus on MIT, Lincoln Lab, and Harvard.I hope that you will get a sense from the pioneers as to what graphics was like in its infancy in Boston. I hope that you will enjoy hearing about their experiences as I have. They have been absolutely charming and inspirational to work with, and I'd like to thank all of them at this time.The speakers have many things to share with you, so I will be brief. I want to thank SIGGRAPH for supporting and encouraging this project and I want to thank the Pioneers for their willingness to share their experiences and their knowledge with all of us.I want to introduce you to Michael S. Mahoney, who will act as the moderator for the retrospectives. Mike is a professor at Princeton, he is in the program in the History of Science, he is editor of the ACM History Series, and he is a distinguished member of the Milestone Advisory Committee. Mike.