It looked like things couldn’t get any better for Jim Foley -- computing pioneer, innovative educator, respected author, dedicated family man and lover of trains. A leading figure in two major branches of Computer Science (Graphics and HCI), he has received top awards in both fields and affected the lives of innumerable grateful students, his own and those whom he’s never met.

Foley has received two lifetime achievement awards from different special interest groups (SIGGRAPH in 1997 and SIGCHI in 2007) within the Association for Computer Machinery – a feat which may well be unique. He also has received an Impact Award from the Graphics, Visualization & Usability (GVU) Center within the College of Computing, of which he was the founding director.

Then came the announcement in February 2008 that Foley had been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions given to an engineer and honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education,” according to the organization’s website.

And now comes word that Professor James D. Foley of the School of Interactive Computing has been given the 2008 Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award, the highest honor Georgia Tech bestows on faculty. Recipients of this award, which comes with a $20,000 prize, are selected by the Faculty Honors Committee for their outstanding commitment to teaching, research and service.

Considered an international leader at the forefront of computing science, Foley was one of the computer graphics pioneers who helped establish Human Computer Interaction (HCI) as a discipline. He is the first author of what many consider the definitive text in computer graphics, Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics, which has reached 400,000 copies in ten translations.

Foley arrived at CoC as Professor of Computer Science in 1991 and founded the GVU Center. Four years later U.S. News and World Report ranked the Center number one for graduate computer science work in graphics and user interaction.

Active in industry, Foley became Director of MERL (Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory) in 1996 and then CEO and Chairman of Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America in 1998. He returned to Georgia in late 1999 to head up the state’s Yamacraw economic development initiative in design of broadband systems, devices and chips.

For four years (2001-2005), Foley chaired the Computing Research Association (CRA), which represents over 200 research universities, corporate research labs, and professional societies.

“I enjoy having a wealth of real-world experience of my own work with industry,” he said. “I hope and believe that it makes the teaching I do more alive and real.”
Foley’s most recent work focuses on improving education and creating innovative ways to engage students in the classroom. The approach uses pre-recorded video lectures, or web lectures, to improve the on-campus experience for students and help them better understand the course material.

“The thing I really like best about my work right now is combining my research interests and my teaching,” Foley said. “It’s all experimental – I’m doing research on a new way of teaching and then using that research in my teaching.”

Foley is both respected and well liked by those he teaches. He has received at least six awards from student groups, including the College of Computing Graduate Student Committee Awards “Best All-Around Faculty Member” (1992), “Most Inspirational Faculty member” (1993 and 1994), and “Most likely to make students want to grow up to be professors” (1992).

Those who know Foley, both his colleagues and his students, will quickly tell you that he is more than a highly accomplished scientist, teacher and author. Many speak of his kindness, generosity, leadership, professionalism, and ability to inspire and nurture those around him. Krishna Bharat, founder of Google News and one of Foley’s Ph.D. students, said, “I owe a lot of my professional success to Jim, as do many people … who revere him as a guide, builder and visionary.”