Theodore Kim
I am a full Professor of Computer Science at Yale, and also an affiliate of American Studies and Ethnicity, Race & Migration (ER&M). I co-direct the Critical Computing Initiative alongside Julian Posada and co-lead the Computer Graphics Group alongside Julie Dorsey and Holly Rushmeier. I research topics in physics-based simulation, including fire, water, and humans, as well as the history of computer graphics and Asian Americans & STEM.
My work has appeared in over two dozen movies, and I received a SciTech Oscar in both 2012 and 2022. Many of the results can be seen on YouTube, and extensive source code is available on this page. Previously, I was a Senior Research Scientist at Pixar Research, where I received screen credits in Cars 3, Coco, Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4. My first (uncredited) work appeared on-screen on the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I am an Associate Editor for ACM Transactions on Graphics.
I received a BS in Computer Science in 2001 from Cornell and a PhD in Computer Science from UNC Chapel Hill in 2006 under the supervision of Ming Lin. I was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at IBM TJ Watson Research Center in 2007, and a Post-Doctoral Associate at Cornell University from 2008-2009 under the supervision of Doug James. From 2011-2015, I was a faculty member at UCSB in the Media Arts and Technology Program and the Department of Computer Science, where I received the UCSB Harold J. Plous Award (Junior Faculty of the Year). From 2009-2011, I was an Assistant Professor in CS at the University of Saskatchewan. I interned at the now-defunct but much-missed Rhythm & Hues Studios in 2001 and 2002, and the “world’s first graphics company,” Evans & Sutherland, in 2000.