Markus Gross is a professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, the Chief Scientist of the Walt Disney Studios, and Director of DisneyResearch|Studios. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for visual computing, physically based modeling, computer animation, immersive displays, and video technology. At Disney, Gross is leading the Studio segment's research and development unit, where he and his team are pushing the forefront of technology innovation in service of the filmmaking process. He received a master of science in electrical and computer engineering and a Ph.D. in computer graphics and image analysis from Saarland University in Germany in 1986 and 1989.
He is a fellow of the ACM, the EUROGRAPHICS Association, and a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In 2013 he was honored with the Konrad Zuse Medal of GI and the Karl Heinz Beckurts price. In addition, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored his research with two technical achievement awards in 2013 and 2019, and welcomed him as a member-at-large in 2020. In 2021, Gross received the prestigious Steven Anson Coons Award for outstanding creative contributions to computer graphics, and in 2024 received the Eurographics Gold Medal. He is a co-founder of Cyfex, Novodex, LiberoVision, Dybuster, Gimalon, Kapanu, Perceptiko, Propulsion Academy, Arbrea Labs, Nanocorp, Animatico, Percim, Morgen, and Aperion XR.