John C. Hart

John C. Hart is Professor and Director of Online and Professional Programs in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, while also serving as Executive Associate Dean of the Graduate College. His research in computer graphics and data visualization has secured funding from Adobe, AT&T, DARPA, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, NVIDIA, and the NSF.

He earned his Ph.D. from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1991.

Prof. Hart's research spans computer graphics, data visualization, and interactive computing with significant contributions to natural modeling, computational topology, and GPU programming. His work bridges academic research and industry applications in graphics hardware, visual effects, game development, and medical imaging.

His major awards include:

• Fellow of the Big Ten Academic Leadership Program (2017)
• University of Illinois Award for Excellence in Online and Distance Teaching (2021)

Prof. Hart designed and directs UIUC's online Master of Computer Science in Data Science program (now the university's second largest graduate program) and created the Data Visualization MOOC reaching over 360,000 learners. His consulting engagements include Microsoft, NVIDIA, AMD, Samsung, Pratt & Whitney, SAIC, and Adobe Systems.

He serves as graphics area editor for ACM Books, previously edited ACM Transactions on Graphics, co-authored "Real-Time Shading," and executive-produced "The Story of Computer Graphics" documentary.