Carolina Cruz-Neira is a leading computer scientist and pioneer in virtual reality, best known for creating the CAVE (CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment), a groundbreaking immersive virtual reality system. She serves as a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Central Florida.

Cruz-Neira’s work bridges science, engineering and art, and she has led advancements in interactive visualization and VR technology for over two decades. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the IEEE and the ACM. In addition to her research and teaching, she has held leadership roles at multiple institutions and continues to advocate for innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in immersive computing.