Richard Shoup (programmer)

Richard Shoup (July 30, 1943 – July 18, 2015) was an American <a href="/facts/Computer_scientist/DavggjGL">computer scientist</a> and <a href="/facts/Entrepreneur/gr8E0Su2">entrepreneur</a>, mainly known from his pioneering work on <a href="/facts/Computer_graphics/lapBE8wv">computer graphics</a> and <a href="/facts/Computer_animation/rPW63nm0">animation</a>. Originally from <a href="/facts/Gibsonia%2c_Pennsylvania/9ArQ2Qvd">Gibsonia</a>, <a href="/facts/Pennsylvania/HGqC5bBm">Pennsylvania</a>, he last resided in <a href="/facts/San_Jose%2c_California/PCaTmTDq">San Jose</a>, <a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a>.
He earned a <a href="/facts/B.S.E.E./qmqBjQw6">B.S.E.E.</a> and a <a href="/facts/Ph.D./paJumdN8">Ph.D.</a> in computer science from <a href="/facts/Carnegie_Mellon_University/XKd7L2KA">Carnegie Mellon University</a>. His Ph.D. thesis was the first to explore <a href="/facts/Programmable_logic/7dIVypm9">programmable logic</a> and <a href="/facts/Reconfigurable_computing/J4b2JsRB">reconfigurable hardware</a>, now widely used in computers and consumer electronics.
In 1973, while working as one of the first employees at the <a href="/facts/PARC_(company)/fh2Su0k9">Xerox Palo Alto Research Center</a>, he built <a href="/facts/SuperPaint/C6dzF7Uu">SuperPaint</a>, one of the first image editing programs. Future <a href="/facts/Pixar/McUyzor2">Pixar</a> cofounder <a href="/facts/Alvy_Ray_Smith/Q9CXUXv5">Alvy Ray Smith</a> contributed to program development as an <a href="/facts/Independent_contractor/pqEUAhNv">independent contractor</a>.
Although he had been directly recruited by <a href="/facts/Robert_Taylor_(computer_scientist)/VyTkFyta">Robert Taylor</a> following the collapse of the Berkeley Computer Corporation, Shoup's interests in video graphics and color, pixel-based imaging clashed with the <a href="/facts/Office_of_the_future/0H6mnygk">office of the future</a> research program cultivated by Taylor and <a href="/facts/Butler_Lampson/PEU8LN9X">Butler Lampson</a>, ultimately precipitating his departure from Xerox. In 1979, he co-founded Aurora Systems, a company that was an early producer of digital animation hardware and software. He received a special <a href="/facts/Emmy_Award/M6GvMDJc">Emmy Award</a> (shared with Xerox) in 1983 and an <a href="/facts/Academy_Scientific_and_Technical_Award/xuWY8Vrl">Academy Scientific Engineering Award</a> (shared with Smith and <a href="/facts/Tom_Porter_(computer_scientist)/P4FV6UAS">Thomas Porter</a>) in 1998 for his work on SuperPaint.
During the 1990s, he was a member of the research staff at <a href="/facts/Interval_Research_Corporation/JxfIAnTb">Interval Research Corporation</a> in Palo Alto. From 2000 until his death, he was an associate at the Boundary Institute for the Study of Foundations, a nonprofit organization involved in research into physical sciences and <a href="/facts/Parapsychology/0cTMNMfD">parapsychology</a>.
An avid musician in his spare time, Shoup played <a href="/facts/Jazz/lmUzXGq8">jazz</a> <a href="/facts/Trombone/yI8vuH6n">trombone</a> for many years in various <a href="/facts/Big_band/5PNVN80e">big bands</a> throughout the <a href="/facts/San_Francisco_Bay_Area/MG53NJ36">San Francisco Bay Area</a>.
Shoup died from lung cancer on July 18, 2015.

Richard Shoup (programmer) open-in-new

Richard Shoup (programmer)