Danny Hillis

W. Daniel “Danny” Hillis (born 1956) is an American computer scientist, inventor, and author known for pioneering work in parallel computing. He co-founded Thinking Machines Corporation and led development of the Connection Machine, a massively parallel supercomputer that helped popularize new approaches to high-performance computation. Hillis later worked at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he contributed to research and development projects applying computing to entertainment and interactive systems. He has also been active in technology entrepreneurship and long-term engineering initiatives, including work associated with the Long Now Foundation. As a writer, Hillis has published accessible books and essays exploring computation, complexity, and the future of technology.