# Official Source: University of Utah Computer Graphics History

**Type:** source
**Status:** Useful
**Confidence:** Medium
**Source Type:** Official Website
**URL:** https://www.cs.utah.edu/about/history/
**Publisher:** Kahlert School of Computing, University of Utah
**Accessed:** 2026-06-18
**Updated:** 2026-06-18

## Summary

The University of Utah School of Computing history page describes the formation of computing research at Utah, David Evans's recruitment, ARPA funding, the early computer graphics program, the ARPANET node, and later graphics and visualization work.

## Useful Claims

- Computing research at Utah began in 1965 when David C. Evans returned to establish a computer science division inside electrical engineering.
- Evans received ARPA support for a center of excellence in computer graphics and recruited Ivan Sutherland and other faculty, students, and collaborators.
- The Utah graphics program is connected to John Warnock, Henri Gouraud, Bui Tuong Phong, Ed Catmull, Fred Parke, Henry Fuchs, Martin Newell, Frank Crow, Jim Blinn, Jim Kajiya, and others.
- The page identifies the Utah teapot as Martin Newell's model and frames it as a widely used benchmark object in computer graphics.
- The same history situates Utah as one of the original four ARPANET nodes and ties later visualization work to the Graphics and Visualization Center.

## Reliability Notes

This is an institutional history from the university, so it is strong evidence for Utah's self-documented program lineage, dates, names, and internal framing. It should be paired with ACM/SIGGRAPH oral histories, original dissertations, and independent histories before making stronger priority claims.

## Related Pages

- [University of Utah Computer Graphics Program](utah-computer-graphics-program.md)