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Former Ohio State captain, 'father of computer art' Charles Csuri dies at 99


The Ohio State University is mourning the loss of Charles "Chuck" Csuri. He was a world-renowned artist, a long-time faculty member and a pioneer in digital art. (Ohio State University){ }
The Ohio State University is mourning the loss of Charles "Chuck" Csuri. He was a world-renowned artist, a long-time faculty member and a pioneer in digital art. (Ohio State University)
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The Ohio State University is mourning the loss of Charles "Chuck" Csuri. He was a world-renowned artist, a long-time faculty member and a pioneer in digital art.

Csuri passed away Sunday at the age of 99 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.

He was a graduate of Ohio State University and a professor of art education and computer and information science for more than 40 years. He formed the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) and co-founded the Ohio Supercomputer Center and Cranston/Csuri Productions, which was one of the first computer animation companies in the world.

The Smithsonian dubbed Csuri the "father of computer art."

He led the development of code to allow artists to produce art in new ways on computers. His early work in computer plotter drawings, computer animation and 3D imagery secured his spot as a pioneer in combining art with technology, Ohio State said.

"Professor Csuri was a pillar in the Ohio State community and truly epitomized the Greatest Generation," Ohio State President Kristina M. Johnson said. "From his time as a football captain and national champion to his groundbreaking work as a professor, he exemplified the Buckeye spirit of innovation and excellence. I admired him greatly. He led an incredibly full life, and his prolific accomplishments have been, and will continue to be, a source of endless inspiration for inventors, artists and leaders around the world."

Ohio State said the results of Csuri's work have been applied to flight simulators, computer-aided design, visualization of scientific phenomena, magnetic resonance imaging, education for the deaf, architecture and special effects for television and films.

His works are on display in the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art and are included in the personal collections of noted artists Roy Lichtenstein and George Segal.

In 2000, Csuri received the Ohio Governor's Award for the Arts and Ohio State's Joseph Sullivant Medal in acknowledgment of his lifetime achievements in the fields of digital art and computer animation. In 2011, he received the Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art by ACM SIGGRAPH, the Association for Computing Machinery. In 2014, he received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the Ohio State College of Arts and Sciences.

Csuri was born in 1922 in West Virginia. At Ohio State, he was a three-year letterman for the Ohio State football team and played on the school's first national championship team in 1942.

Legendary coach Paul Brown called Csuri "the perfect tackle."

In 1943, Csuri was a team captain and was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1944 NFL Draft but declined to play in order to serve in World War II.

He served in the Army from 1943-46 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1994. Csuri received a Bronze Star for heroism.

His time in the Army later inspired one of his early digital artistic works, "Random War", which commented on the randomness of loss and death during military actions.

During his service, Csuri earned a certificate in engineering from the Newark College of Engineering in 1945.

Following his service in the Army, Csuri returned to Ohio State to get his master's degree in fine arts.

In the late 1960s, Csuri used a grant from the National Science Foundation to form the Computer Graphics Research Group (CGRG) at Ohio State, which pioneered computer-based art and animation.

"Professor Csuri was a visionary. His work placed Ohio State at the center of the development of the field of computer graphics. He created unimaginable opportunities and experiences in the field for his students," Maria Palazzi, professor of design and director of ACCAD, said. "Most impressively, Chuck conceived of and created a truly collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to making computer graphics, centering the artist alongside the scientist. This is the community he built for his students at CGRG and later at ACCAD, and that they have taken out into the world."

In 1987, Csuri founded the CGRG’s successor, the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design, which provided the latest computer animation resources in teaching, research and production. Ohio State said ACCAD alumni have gone on to work in some of the top companies in the industry, including Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Industrial Light and Magic.






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