Danny Hillis (1956) has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He pioneered the concept of parallel computers that is now the basis for most super computers. He co-founded Thinking Machines, the first company to build and market such systems successfully, and holds some 40 patents. Earlier this year Mr. Hillis joined the Walt Disney Company as vice president R & D at Walt Disney Imagineering and as the first member of the Disney Fellows Program. Mr. Hillis is also an editor for several scientific journals and a member of the science board of the Santa Fé Institute, the Clock Library Foundation, the external advisory board of the Institute for Biospheric Studies and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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