Sebastian Thrun is an innovator, entrepreneur, educator, and a computer scientist. He is the chairman and co-founder of Udacity. At Google, he founded Google X, where he led projects including the Self-Driving Car, Google Glass, and more. Additionally, he was a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, and before that at Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently also an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and at Georgia Tech.
Previously, he led the Stanford Racing Team whose robot “Stanley” won the DARPA Grand Challenge. His team also developed a vehicle called Junior, which placed second at the DARPA Grand Challenge (2007). Thrun led the development of the Google self-driving car.
Sebastian has been named the 5th Most Creative Person in Business (Fast Company), among the 50 Smartest People in Tech (Fortune), and highlighted in 50 Best Inventions of 2010 (Time). The Guardian recognized him as one of 20 “fighters for internet freedom”.
In 2011, he received the Max-Planck-Research Award, and the inaugural AAAI Ed Feigenbaum Prize. Furthermore, he is the first recipient of the inaugural Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Education, and is also featured in the recent film Lo & Behold: Reveries of the Connected World by award-winning writer and director Werner Herzog.