Dr. Newton Lee
Newton Lee, Hon. DSc, MSc is an author, educator, futurist, computer scientist, and administrator in the field of education and technology commercialization. He was the founder of the Disney Online Technology Forum, creator of AT&T Bell Labs’ first-ever commercial artificial intelligence tool, and inventor of the world’s first annotated multimedia OPAC for the U.S. National Agricultural Library.
He is the Chairman of the California Transhumanist Party since 2017, education and media advisor to the United States Transhumanist Party since 2014, and President of the nonprofit Institute for Education, Research, and Scholarships (IFERS) since 2004. Previously, he was a campaign advisor to Zoltan Istvan for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
IFERS is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit institute acknowledged by Alan Kay and Quincy Jones at the American Film Institute on November 4, 2006 during the ACM Computers in Entertainment awards ceremony as well as by Senator Richard D. Roth of the California State Senate on March 14, 2016 in support of Type 1 diabetes awareness and research.
On Earth Day on April 22, 2018, Newton was a member of the IFERS-sponsored 2018 Earth Day Peace Conference and Movie Screening.
Newton is the Author and Editor of more than 128 publications in three languages that can be found in more than 4000 library holdings worldwide, among others are Disney Stories, The Transhumanism Handbook, and his Total Information Awareness trilogy books Facebook Nation, Google It, and Counterterrorism and Cybersecurity.
The Total Information Awareness trilogy books have garnered rave reviews from Eleanor Clift of Newsweek and The Daily Beast, ACM Computing Reviews, AdWeek SocialTimes, Choice Magazine, and Carmen LaBerge of Faith Radio, among others.
“I am inspired by the prospect of world peace. I’d fully recommend following the author’s steps, reaching beyond our borders, making friends outside our norm, and helping to foster world peace and a better tomorrow.” — remark by Veteran Staff Sergeant Andrew Price of the United States Air Force (USAF)
Newton is currently the editor and curator of SpringerBriefs in Computer Science, Springer International Series on Computer Entertainment and Media Technology, and Springer Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games.
He is also an educator at Vincennes University, teaching computer game design and development classes since 2018. Since 2011, he has been Executive Producer at I.L.M, a music label and publisher from Los Angeles, and from 2015, an Advisory Board Member at The High School Music Company in Hollywood.
Previously, he was Adjunct Professor of Media Technology at Woodbury University (2000–2018), Editor-in-Chief and Founder at ACM Computers in Entertainment (2003–2018), senior producer and lead engineer at The Walt Disney Company (1996–2006), and Director at the National University of Singapore (2006–2014).
Newton started his career as an Intern and Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses conducting military-standard Ada research for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in 1984.
In 1985, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories as Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence researcher, where he created Bell Labs’ first-ever commercial AI tool.
In 1989, Newton became a research scientist at VTLS where he created the world’s first annotated multimedia OPAC for the U.S. National Agricultural Library.
Between 1992 and 1996, he was the Lead Software Engineer at Media Station, where he created a scripting language and cross-platform compiler for CD-ROM storybooks and games. He co-developed 12 best-selling and award-winning children titles for Disney, Mattel, Philips, HarperCollins, and SegaSoft.
In 1996 he joined The Walt Disney Company, where he continued for ten years until 2006. He was the founder of Disney Online Technology Forums and launched the first-ever and also profitable Disney online subscription product.
In 1997, he also became Lecturer at The Art Institutes, where he developed new curriculum and taught classes on Flash animation, ActionScript programming, web design, and game development.
In 2003, Newton founded the nonprofit ACM Computers in Entertainment. It was published by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for which Newton interviewed Roy E. Disney, Quincy Jones, and George Lucas. He oversaw the journal and magazine for 15 years from 2003 to 2018, which is the longest term held by an editor-in-chief in the history of ACM.
He was credited as a software engineer for Disney’s Animated Storybooks (1994 video game) (featured on Billboard) and Pocahontas (1996 video game).
Newton was also credited for web design and game development for the 2015 documentary film Finding Noah: The Search for Noah’s Ark.
He has also executive produced dance-pop songs that have charted on U.S. Billboard, U.K. Music Week, and the U.S. iTunes HOT 100 (Electronic) as well as appeared on American Idol and the Lifetime original movie Cheyenne.
In 2016, he curated and released the Google It (Soundtrack) music album consisting of Roger Hodgson’s The Logical Song, Princess X’s Free, and six cover songs from the Beatles, the Eagles, R.E.M., Pink Floyd, and Zager and Evans.
Newton graduated Summa Cum Laude and earned his Bachelor’s Degree of Science and his Master’s Degree of Science from Virginia Tech in Computer Science specializing in Artificial Intelligence. He earned a perfect GPA from Vincennes University with an A.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and an honorary doctorate in Computer Science from Vincennes University. He was the founding president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and has been honored with a Michigan Leading Edge Technologies Award, two community development awards from the California Junior Chamber of Commerce, and four volunteer project leadership awards from The Walt Disney Company.
Read Following Up with Newton Lee After Digital Hollywood Spring 2015, and at Meet Newton Lee of Institute for Education, Research, and Scholarships. Read Newton’s Contributions to U.S. Transhumanist Party.
Watch Newton Lee of the California Transhumanist Party speak at People Unlimited.
Visit his LinkedIn profile, his Wikipedia page, and his homepage Newton Lee Labs. View the list of his publications at Google Scholar, GoodReads, and Amazon. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
