The ACM is the world’s largest professional society for computer science. Founded in 1947, it now has more than 110,000 members in 190 countries, including researchers, educators, and industry professionals. Its numerous special interest groups (SIGs) cover a wide range of topics, among them computer graphics.

Nake was born in 1938 and studied mathematics at the University of Stuttgart, where he completed his doctorate in 1967 with a dissertation on probability theory. His first artistic experiments began in 1963 at the Technical University of Stuttgart, using the Graphomat Z64 – the pioneering drawing machine created by computer inventor Konrad Zuse. In 1965, he staged his first exhibition of computer-generated works in Stuttgart, establishing himself as one of the founders of computer art. In the years that followed, his work appeared in groundbreaking international exhibitions, including Cybernetic Serendipity (London, 1968), Computers and Visual Research (Zagreb, 1968), and the Venice Biennale (1970). In 1968/69, he also conducted research into computer art with Leslie Mezei at the University of Toronto. From 1972 until 2024, Nake was Professor of Graphic Data Processing and Interactive Systems at the University of Bremen, spending twelve of those years also teaching at the University of the Arts Bremen. In the winter semester of 2024/25, he taught his final course – his 105th semester in Bremen.

In 1997, he received the Berninghausen Prize for Excellence in Teaching, awarded by the University of Bremen and the unifreunde Association of the Friends of the University of Bremen and Constructor University. In 2018, he was honored with the Klaus Tschira Medal for Computer Science. Over the course of his career, he has supervised nearly 500 bachelor’s, master’s, and diploma theses, as well as around 80 doctoral dissertations in Bremen. Frieder Nake has also taught on every continent except Africa.