Education
Walter Bender earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1977 and a Master of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980.
Walter Bender earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1977 and a Master of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980.
Bender is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory He was executive director between 2000 and 2006. From 2006 to 2008, Bender was president of Software and Content for One Laptop per Child where he coordinated the development of software and content including the Sugar interface for the XO-1 Children"s Machine computer.
Foreign more than 20 years, Bender was head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory"s Electronic Publishing Group.
The Electronic Publishing research group was initiated when Bender joined the Architecture Machine Group (the precursor to the Media Laboratory) in 1978. The research group is one of the Media Laboratory"s oldest and one of a few that predates the creation of the laboratory
Bender"s research has attempted to build upon the interactive styles associated with existing media and extend them into domains where a computer is incorporated into the interaction. He has participated in research in the field of electronic publishing, and personalized, interactive multimedia, particularly including news.
Between 2000 and 2006, Bender served as the executive director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory
He is a former holder of the Alexander West. Dreyfoos Chair at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory Bender took a leave of absence from the Media Laboratory to work at One Laptop per Child as president of that organization for Software and Content. In this role, Bender oversaw and helped with the development of the Sugar graphical interface.
After leaving OLPC in 2008, Bender was one of several co-founders of Sugar Labs to continue development of Sugar.