College of Science

Not only has Catmull [BS’69, physics] won five Academy Awards, he’s also received an ACM A.M. Turing Award — considered the Nobel Prize of computing — has rubbed shoulders with George Lucas and Steve Jobs, co-founded Pixar and co-created the first computer-animated film (and the technology that made it possible).

Catmull is the 2024 winner of The Leonardo Award, an award that seeks to honor individuals who have made “contributions (that) exemplify the blend of art and science,” per The Leonardo.

To receive his Leonardo Award, Catmull returned to Salt Lake City — the very place his impressive career started.

“(Catmull) credits the atmosphere and the work that he did at the University of Utah with some of his early success,” Virginia Pearce, director of the Utah Film Commission, said during Thursday night’s ceremony. “We are so proud about your start in Utah and the deeply grateful for the mark that you’ve made on (the film industry) industry and beyond.”

‘It was amazing’: How the University of Utah shaped Catmull’s career

As a kid, Catmull balanced his interests in both art and science. He never saw the subjects as being inharmonious.

“Growing up, I didn’t know that (science and art) were considered to be not compatible with each other. Nobody told me that,” Catmull said Thursday night at The Leonardo Museum. Animation fascinated him, but there was no college for it. So when he started his Bachelor’s degree at University of Utah, he fell back on science.

“There were no tools for it, for animation, so I switched over into physics when I went to college,” Catmull said. This revelation prompted laughter from the audience — how can the man who co-founded Pixar be a physicist?