Sun VP and Fellow Ivan E. Sutherland Presented Lifetime Achievement Award for Information Technology Innovation.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 1996--Sun Microsystems Inc. announced today that its vice president and fellow Dr. Ivan E. Sutherland has won the 1996 Price Waterhouse Information Technology Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement and has been included in the Smithsonian's Permanent Collection of Information Technology Innovation.

Known for his pioneering work in computer graphics and modeling technology Sutherland was presented the award at the annual Computerworld Smithsonian Awards in Washington, D.C.

Throughout his career, Sutherland has made significant contributions to society and the computer industry in three key areas: -0-

-- Through his computer graphics program "Sketchpad," Sutherland created the first working storage area displayed on a visual screen that allowed the operator to add and delete graphic or textual information at will prior to storage. This innovation defined the interactive computer graphics field nearly three decades ago, and won Sutherland the title "The Father of Computer Graphics."

-- His research on head-mounted displays in the mid-sixties led to early use of dynamic three-dimensional computer graphics, now known as "virtual reality."

-- And in the late seventies, while a professor at Caltech, he initiated a major research project staffed and funded cooperatively with industry, that led to broad acceptance of the academic teaching of integrated circuit design -- thus increasing the knowledge base throughout the country of integrated circuitry. -0-

Currently Sutherland is working with Sun Microsystems to adopt new technologies through research and development, and strengthen the intellectual property base for the over $6 billion company. "Ivan's contributions to Sun are inestimable," says Sun CTO Eric Schmidt. "He is a tireless innovator who inspires us all, challenging the way we approach projects and measure their success. His innovation keeps Sun on the cutting edge." Sutherland often notes that "In research, if you don't fail half the time, you aren't trying hard enough."

Sutherland's present research at Sun Microsystems Laboratories is focused on new design and design techniques for asynchronous digital systems. He received a Turing Award in 1988, the highest award given by the Association of Computing Machinery, for his already renowned work in asynchronistic technology. According to Sutherland, "as chips get bigger and faster, it is harder to use conventional design." Indeed, Sutherland has never been constrained by conventional thinking.

The author of twelve patents, Sutherland is a co-founder of the Evans and Sutherland Computer Corp., now a $150 million a year firm manufacturing high performance computer graphics equipment. Co-founder David Evans also received a Price Waterhouse Lifetime Achievement Award for his partnership in inspiring computer graphics.

Dr. Sutherland received a Ph.D. degree from MIT in 1963, following an MS from Caltech and a BS from Carnegie Tech, all in electrical engineering. He holds honorary degrees from Harvard, Caltech and the University of North Carolina. Dr. Sutherland is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

The Price Waterhouse Lifetime Achievement Award is one of five Information Technology Leadership Awards presented annually at the ComputerWorld Smithsonian Awards. Established in 1989, the program was created to identify and honor individuals whose use of information technology produces positive social, economic and educational change.

With annual revenues of more than $6 billion, Sun Microsystems Inc. provides products and services that enable customers to build and maintain open network environments. Widely recognized as a proponent of open standards, the company is involved in the design, manufacture and sale of products, technologies and services for commercial and technical computing. Sun's SPARC (TM) workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris (TM) operating software and ISO-certified service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX (R) industry. Java (TM), Sun's platform-independent programming language, provides a comprehensive solution to the challenge of programming for complex networks, including the Internet. Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982, and is located in Mountain View, Calif.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/OPEN Company Ltd.

CONTACT: Burson-Marsteller

Jennifer Graham, 415/614-0680