Tony DeRose, senior scientist and leader of the research group at Pixar Animation Studios, will present the public talk “Math in the Movies” at 4:30 p.m. April 1 in the Nebraska Union Auditorium as part of the annual Howard Rowlee Lecture.

Filmmaking has undergone a revolution brought on by advances in areas such as computer technology, geometry and applied mathematics. Using numerous examples drawn from Pixar’s feature films, this talk will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the role that math has played in the revolution.

DeRose received his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of California, Davis, and earned his doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. From 1986 to 1995, DeRose was a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. In 1998, he was a major contributor to the Oscar-winning short film “Geri’s Game.” In 1999 he received the ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award and in 2006 he received a Scientific and Technical Academy Award for his work on surface representations.

The Howard Rowlee Lecture seeks to bring internationally acclaimed scholars in the mathematical sciences to UNL to promote public understanding of mathematical research and to stimulate the environment for mathematics research at UNL. This presentation is sponsored by the Howard E. Rowlee Jr. Fund and UNL Department of Mathematics.