Carl Bass | |
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![]() Former Autodesk CEO Carl Bass | |
Born | May 18, 1957 |
Occupation(s) | Former CEO and President of Autodesk |
Spouse | Daryl Austern |
Carl Bass is a former president and chief executive officer of Autodesk, Inc., [1] a maker of professional 3D design software and consumer applications, and was a co-founder of Ithaca Software, [2] which commercialized HOOPS, a 3D graphics system. Bass has been credited with expanding Autodesk beyond its core AutoCAD software through acquisitions and new product developments [3] and transitioning from 2D to 3D model-based design. [2]
Bass was born in New York, New York to a chemist father and school teacher mother. After starting at Cornell University, Bass took a break to build boats, furniture, and sculpture in Seattle and Maine for five years. He returned to Cornell and graduated with Bachelor of Arts in mathematics in 1983.[ citation needed ]
In 1981, Bass co-founded a computer graphics company called Flying Moose Systems and Graphics Ltd., which became Ithaca Software in 1986.[ citation needed ] The company commercialized HOOPS, a 3D graphics system originally developed at Cornell University in the mid-1980s. Bass served as Ithaca Software’s chief technology officer and CEO.[ citation needed ] He joined Autodesk when the company acquired Ithaca Software in 1993, serving as the chief architect for AutoCAD. [2] In 1995, Bass was forced out by Autodesk’s then president and CEO Carol Bartz, only to be rehired five months later, after top Autodesk engineers said they needed Bass’s software development skills. [4]
Bass left Autodesk in 1999 to launch Buzzsaw, [5] an online service for management of construction projects, where he served as president and CEO. [2] Bass returned to Autodesk when it acquired the company in 2001. [5] In addition to being the company's president and CEO from 2006 through 2017, Bass held a number of high-level positions at Autodesk, including executive vice president and chief strategy officer (2001 to 2002); senior executive vice president of the Design Solutions Group (2002 to 2004); chief operating officer (2004 to 2006); and interim chief financial officer (2008 to 2009). [6]
In 2006, Carol Bartz stepped down as Autodesk’s president and CEO, naming Bass as her replacement. [7]
During his tenure as CEO, Bass focused on expanding the company beyond its core AutoCAD software through acquisitions and new product development, [3] and transitioning from 2D to 3D design. [2] He emphasized vertical markets focusing on model-based design, simulation, and lifecycle management. [2] Under his direction, Autodesk introduced consumer-oriented products such as SketchBook, a mobile painting and drawing app with more than 7 million users as of Nov. 2011. [8] Bass helped lead the company to develop Building Information Modeling (BIM) and generative design technologies. [9] In March 2008, Autodesk was ranked number 25 on Fast Company's list of "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies." [10]
Bass serves on the Board of Directors of Autodesk, HP Inc., Zendesk Inc., Planet, VELO3D, Formlabs Inc, Box, and Built Robotics. [1] [11] He also serves on the board of trustees of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Art Center College of Design, and California College of the Arts, and is a member of the advisory boards of Cornell Computing and Information Science, UC Berkeley School of Information, and UC Berkeley College of Engineering. [1] He currently acts as an advisor to Zoox Inc. and a special advisor to Alphabet CEO Larry Page. [12]
Bass announced that he would be stepping down as Autodesk's CEO effective on February 8, 2017. He remains a board member and special advisor to the company. [13]
Bass owns a workshop near his home in Berkeley, Calif., [4] where he designs and fabricates objects made from wood, metal and stone. Bass’ projects have included furniture, sculpture and a walk-in wooden rocket ship he built for his children, [14] which is on permanent display at Chabot Science Center.
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