Rick Parent is a Professor interested in computer graphics and computer animation, especially as it relates to the human figure. He recieved his Ph.D. from OSU in 1977 and worked at the Computer Graphics Research Group at OSU as a Research Associate and Associate Director until 1980. In 1980, he co-founded and was president of The Computer Animation Company until joining the faculty at OSU in 1985. In 2002, his book on computer animation, "Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques" was published by Morgan-Kaufman. His recent research interests have focused on facial animation and tracking human figures in video.