Brian A McClendon (born 1964) is an American software executive, engineer, and inventor. He was a co-founder and

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

in Keyhole, Inc., a

geospatial Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also call ...

data visualization company that was purchased by

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

in 2004 to produce

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

. Keyhole itself was spun off from another company called Intrinsic Graphics, of which McClendon was also a co-founder. McClendon was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in 2015 for strategic, technical, and managerial leadership resulting in widespread accurate and useful geographic information.

Early life

McClendon grew up in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. His childhood home, Meadowbrook Apartments in Lawrence, is the default center point of Google Earth. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1982 and from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1986 with a degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Career

Early years

McClendon spent eight years with

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

developing high-end workstation 3D graphics including GT, GTX,

RealityEngine RealityEngine is a 3D graphics hardware architecture and a family of graphics systems which was developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics during the early to mid 1990s. RealityEngine was positioned as the company's high-end visualization har ...

, and

InfiniteReality InfiniteReality refers to a 3D graphics hardware architecture and a family of graphics systems that implemented the aforementioned hardware architecture that was developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics from 1996 to 2005. The InfiniteRealit ...

, and then worked as an engineering director with

@Home Network @Home Network was a high-speed cable Internet service provider from 1996 to 2002. It was founded by Milo Medin, cable companies Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), Comcast, and Cox Communications, and William Randolph Hearst III, who was their fir ...

Keyhole

In 2001, he was one of the original investors in Keyhole, Inc., a software development company specializing in geospatial data visualization applications. He served as a board member and later joined the company as vice president of engineering.

Google

When

acquired Keyhole in 2004, McClendon became a director of engineering for Google Geo, a team focussed on geospatial data visualization applications. He was later promoted to vice president, overseeing the Geo team. Keyhole's main application suite, Earth Viewer, and Keyhole Markup Language (KML), formed the basis for

. Under McClendon’s tenure, Google Geo products included

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

Google Maps API Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expan ...

, Google Local Search,

Panoramio Panoramio was a geo-tagging, geo-located tagging, photo sharing Mashup (web application hybrid), mashup active between 2005 and 2016. Photos uploaded to the site were accessible as a layer in Google Earth and Google Maps. The site's goal was to a ...

Sketchup SketchUp is a suite of subscription products that include SketchUp Pro Desktop, a 3D modeling Computer-Aided Design (CAD) program for a broad range of drawing and design applications — including architectural, interior design, industrial an ...

Waze Waze (; he, ווייז, label=Hebrew), formerly FreeMap Israel, is a subsidiary company of Google that provides satellite navigation software on smartphones and other computers that support the Global Positioning System (GPS). In addition to ...

, and

Google Earth Engine Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

. Brian was also instrumental in the creation of

Google Santa Tracker Google Santa Tracker is an annual Christmas-themed entertainment website first launched in 2004 by Google that simulates the tracking of the legendary character Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, using predetermined location information. It also a ...

Uber

He left

to join

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

in June 2015 to work on mapping and machine learning.

Niantic

In November, 2021, McClendon joined

Niantic Niantic may refer to: * Niantic people, tribe of American Indians * Niantic, Inc., mobile app developer known for the mobile games ''Ingress'' and ''Pokémon Go'' Ships * ''Niantic'' (whaling vessel), relic of San Francisco Gold Rush *USS ''Nian ...

as a senior vice president of

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

, research and mapping

Politics

In March 2017, McClendon resigned his full-time role at Uber, though remaining an adviser, in order to return to his hometown of Lawrence, KS, indicating an interest in politics. In January 2018, he announced his intention to run for

Kansas Secretary of State The secretary of state of Kansas is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kansas. The current secretary of state is the former speaker ''pro tempore'' of the Kansas House of Representatives, Scott Schwab, who was sworn in on Ja ...

as a Democrat. He ran unopposed in the primary election and was selected as the Democratic candidate. He was defeated in the general election by Republican candidate

Scott Schwab Scott Joseph Schwab (born July 9, 1972) is an American politician serving as the 32nd Secretary of State of Kansas. He served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 49th district, from 2009 to 2019. He also served as ...

Teaching and philanthropy

McClendon maintains close ties with his alma mater, the

, serving on advisory boards for both the School of Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He and his wife Beth Ellyn McClendon established the McClendon Engineering Scholarship at the university in 2007, donated computer tablets for electrical engineering and computer science students, and provided a Google

Liquid Galaxy The Liquid Galaxy is an open source project founded by Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computin ...

interactive display at the University's Eaton Hall. In 2013, he served as Grand Marshal of the University's

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

parade. He currently serves as a research professor at the

, having received an honorary doctorate in electrical engineering from the university in 2015. His research subjects include

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

autonomous vehicles Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle (car, aircraft, watercraft, or otherwise).Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control o ...

, and world-scale mapping.

Awards and recognitions

McClendon received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the University of Kansas, "for outstanding contributions to the fields of electrical engineering and computer science." He has been recognized by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

as a

Champions of the Earth The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established Champions of the Earth in 2005 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders from the public and private sectors, and from civil society. Award details T ...

in 2013, which is its top environmental prize, "for harnessing the power of technology to support conservation and green economic development." McClendon holds forty one issued patents, including thirteen relating to

KML Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Key ...

, the XML-based language schema for expressing geographic annotation and visualization in two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML became an open standard for

GIS data Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also call ...

in 2008.

Depiction in Media

* 2012: ''Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks'' by

Ken Jennings Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,70 ...

* 2018: ''Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality'' by Bill Kilday * 2021: ''

The Billion Dollar Code The Billion Dollar Code is a 2021 German television miniseries starring Björn Freiberg, Seumas F. Sargent and Leonard Scheicher. Based on true events, the series was developed for Netflix, where it was first aired in October 2021 along with an ad ...

'': The German

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

drama about the creation of the Terravision program and the subsequent 2014

patent infringement Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...

lawsuit against

, contains a fictional character called ''Brian Andersson'' which is a composite of McClendon and Michael T. Jones. * 2012: ''On the Map: Why the World Looks the Way it Does'' by

Simon Garfield Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author. Biography Garfield was born in London in 1960.Simon Garfield Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author. Biography Garfield was born in London in 1960.Website

NAE Profile

University of Kansas Profile

ART+COM against Google Inc.

Art+Com Innovation Pool GmbH v. Google LLC
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClendon, Brian 1964 births Businesspeople in software Google employees Living people University of Kansas alumni