Summary
Daniel Ingalls is a Principal Investigator and pioneering computer scientist with over four decades of influence in object-oriented programming, dynamic languages, and interactive graphics. As architect of Smalltalk and inventor of its keyword syntax, BitBlt, and popup menus, his work at Xerox PARC, Apple, and beyond helped define modern GUIs and live programming environments. He led creation of Squeak, EToys, and the Lively Kernel—systems that emphasize live coding, collaborative undo/action logs, and in-browser self-hosting—bridging research and practical artifacts that changed industry practice. At Y Combinator Research and Sun he continued to push live, web-native development and explored programming-by-example for learners, showing a sustained interest in making programming more accessible. His career blends deep VM and graphics engineering with systems that foster community and education, from One Laptop Per Child influences to enterprise UI strategies at SAP. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he pairs rigorous academic training in physics and EE with a rare track record of inventions that quietly underpin everyday computing.
13 years of coding experience
34 years of employment as a software developer
B.A., Physics, B.A., Physics at Harvard University
M.S., Electrical Engineering, M.S., Electrical Engineering at Stanford University