UIC’s Jason Leigh was recently promoted from Associate Professor to Professor, effective Fall semester. Jason is Director of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), Director of the Software Technologies Research Center (STRC), and a Professor in the Computer Science Department. University promotions and tenure appointments were announced in the August 4, 2010 issue of UIC NEWS.

This promotion recognizes Jason’s many achievements in research, education and service. Jason’s primary research interest focuses on Cyber-Commons - ultra-resolution display-rich collaboration environments amplified by high-performance computing and networking. Jason also teaches courses in Video Game Design and Development, and Software Design. And, he has helped organize and participated in numerous professional society conferences and workshops. Major current grants include the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded “OptIPlanet Cyber-Mashup: Persistent Visualization and Collaboration Services for Global Cyberinfrastructure,” which focuses on SAGE software development and deployment to a growing international user community; “Project Lifelike,” which aims to create avatars that are as lifelike as possible; and, with Professor Andy Johnson, “Next-Generation CAVE,” the first 3-D immersive flat-paneled display system with enough resolution to match human visual acuity.

Professor Bob Sloan, head of the UIC Computer Science Department, thinks Jason truly deserving of this promotion. “Jason Leigh performs really excellent, innovative scholarship and does really excellent, innovative teaching. His work building very large, very novel, visualization systems of the future is extraordinarily impressive.”