Guide Note:

Inventor and entrepreneur Danny Hillis cofounded supercomputer manufacturer Thinking Machines and Freebase developer Metaweb Technologies.

Fast Facts:

1. Born: September 25, 1956
2. PhD degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Former Vice-President of Walt Disney Imagineering
4. 2002 Winner, Dan David Prize

Daniel Hillis was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was an epidemiologist, and his mother was a biostatistician. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a degree in mathematics and a masters in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

In 1983 Hillis co-founded Thinking Machines, through which he sought to build computers with artificial intelligence. The company did not fare well, and in 1994 Hillis was offered a job at Walt Disney Imagineering, for which he designs everything from theme park rides to new technologies for their movies and consumer merchandise.