Alvy Ray Smith

Alvy Ray Smith is one of the co-founders of Pixar.

With Ed Catmull, Smith was a founding member of the Lucasfilm Computer Division, which developed computer graphics software, including early renderer technology. He and Ed Catmull co-founded Pixar. After the spinout from Lucasfilm of Pixar, funded by Steve Jobs, he served on the Board of Directors and was Executive Vice President. According to the Steve Jobs biography iCon by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon, Alvy Ray quit Pixar after a heated argument with Jobs over use of a whiteboard. Despite being a co-founder of Pixar, Young and Simon claim that the company has largely overlooked his part in company history since his departure. For example, there is no mention of Smith on the Pixar website.