Julian Lombardi
Architect, Open Croquet; Assistant VP for Academic Services and Tech Support, Duke University

Julian Lombardi, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President for Academic Services and Technology Support, Office of Information Technology, Duke University; Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, Duke University; and Principal Architect, Croquet Project

Dr. Julian Lombardi is an American computer scientist known for his work in user interface design and in the design of computer systems that support collaboration between large numbers of users. He is one of six principal architects of the Croquet project (along with Alan Kay, David P. Reed, Andreas Raab, David A. Smith, and Mark McCahill).

A former biology professor, Lombardi combined his interests in information technology, complex systems, and the phenomenon of emergence in biological systems and began designing and developing computer-supported collaboration systems involving self-optimizing massively multiuser online 3D environments in the mid-1990s. Lombardi eventually founded VIOS, Inc. in 1999 where he acted as the venture capital-backed company's first CEO and then Chief Creative Officer/Software architect. From 2002-2005, he managed a software research and development group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lombardi currently serves as Duke University's Assistant Vice President of Academic Services and Technology Support. He is also a Senior Research Scholar with Duke University's program in Information Science + Information Studies and an adjunct professor with Duke University's Department of Computer Science.