Dec. 19, 2025, SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Robert F. Sproull has been elected to the board of directors of New England Public Media. He joins a dedicated and visionary board led by chair Crist Myers, whose members share a strong commitment to NEPM’s mission and future.
“We are honored to welcome Robert Sproull to the New England Public Media board,” said Myers. “Bob’s extraordinary career in applied research, computer science, and organizational leadership brings a level of expertise and depth that will be invaluable to NEPM. His perspective, particularly as public media navigates rapid technological change, will greatly strengthen our ability to serve our community with integrity, innovation, and purpose.”
Sproull recently retired as vice president and director of Oracle Labs, an internationally respected applied research group that originated at Sun Microsystems. Since his undergraduate days, he has been building hardware and software for computer graphics: clipping hardware, an early device-independent graphics package, page description languages, laser printing software, and window systems. He has also been involved in VLSI design, especially of asynchronous circuits and systems.
Before joining Sun Microsystems in 1990 (acquired by Oracle in 2010), Sproull was a principal at Sutherland, Sproull and Associates; an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University; and a member of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. He is coauthor, with William Newman, of the influential early text “Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics, and an author of “Logical Effort,” a foundational work on designing fast CMOS circuits.
Sproull is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has served on the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. He has also worked as a technology partner at Advanced Technology Ventures, and as co-chair of the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“I am a lifelong fan and beneficiary of NPR and PBS, already smitten when my daughter met Mister Rogers on the screen 40 years ago,” said Sproull. “I am honored to be elected to the board and hope to help NEPM sustain and grow its vital services to the area.”
Sproull also serves on the boards of the Connecticut River Conservancy and River Network. Outside of his professional and community work, he enjoys rowing his single scull on the Connecticut River.
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New England Public Media enriches people’s lives in western Massachusetts and beyond by nurturing curiosity, inspiring community engagement, and reflecting the unique joys of living here. NEPM is the region’s source for PBS and NPR programs and for locally produced news, video, and music content. For more information, visit nepm.org or follow NEPM on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.