Biographical Sketch

Mark Henne

Lead Technical Director - Pixar

Mark Henne was born and raised in Illinois. With the advent of movies like "Star Wars" and "Tron", plus the sudden availability of color computers in the mid eighties, he found his calling. Computer animation was the field where he could combine interests in art, math, and computer science.

After earning a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from the University of New Mexico in 1988, he went on to earn a Master's Degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1990. The next four years were spent with Rhythm & Hues Studios in Hollywood, animating and writing software for projects including the "Worm Hole Effect" for "Star Trek: Deep Space 9", and three of the "Polar Bears" spots for Coca-Cola.

Mark joined Pixar in time to work on the feature film "Toy Story". His work on "A Bug's Life" included software development, facial sculpting and articulation design, and special effects animation. He is now working on "Monsters, Inc.", due out in 2001. Mr. Henne's areas of expertise include flexible skins for character animation, and the animation of complex natural objects. For fun he likes to play ice hockey, bikeride, travel, and enjoy film and the arts