John Henry Thompson

John Henry Thompson

Computer scientist, artist, educator, community activist. Inventor of the Lingo programming language. Professor at NYU Tisch ITP since 1988.

Portrait of John Henry Thompson, short greying curls, dark backdrop, wearing a maroon polo.

Bio

Computer scientist
Artist
Educator

John Henry Thompson invented the Lingo scripting language for Macromedia Director and helped define interactive multimedia in the 1990s. He has been a professor at NYU Tisch's Interactive Telecommunications Program since 1988, where he teaches Introduction to Computational Media and related courses.

His artistic work uses computation to surface Black history. Recent installations include Data Portraits, after Du Bois (2021–2022) and POWER TO THE PEOPLE! (2024) at 370 Jay Street.

Teaching

NYU Tisch ITP · since 1988

Practice

EP Visual Design · Partner & Chief Scientist

Education

BS, MIT · 1983