Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen is a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
computer scientist, technology executive, and the co-founder of
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 ...
.He was the director of engineering for
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
in London.
[Hutcheon, Stephen]
Why I quit Google to join Facebook: Lars Rasmussen
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 1 November 2010. In early 2003, Lars and his brother
Jens co-founded a mapping-related startup,
Where 2 Technologies, which was acquired by Google in October 2004. Rasmussen became the head of the Google Maps team and worked at Google until joining Facebook in late 2010.
Qualifications
In 1990, Rasmussen graduated from the
University of Aarhus
Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. He gained his MSc in Computer Systems Engineering from the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in 1992.
Rasmussen began his PhD, working with
Mark Jerrum
Mark Richard Jerrum (born 1955) is a British computer scientist and computational theorist.
Jerrum received his Ph.D. in computer science 'On the complexity of evaluating multivariate polynomials' in 1981 from University of Edinburgh under the s ...
and
Alistair Sinclair
:'
Alistair Sinclair (born 1960) is a British computer scientist and computational theorist.
Sinclair received his B.A. in mathematics from St. John’s College, Cambridge in 1979, and his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Edinbu ...
in the
Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science
The Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science (LFCS) is a research institute within the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. It was founded in 1987 and is a community of theoretical computer scientists with i ...
at Edinburgh, then moved, with Sinclair, to
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, USA.
He received his PhD from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in 1998, for his thesis "On Approximating the
Permanent
Permanent may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* ''Permanent'' (film), a 2017 American film
* ''Permanent'' (Joy Division album)
* "Permanent" (song), by David Cook
Other uses
* Permanent (mathematics), a concept in linear algebra
* Permanent (cy ...
and Other
#P-Complete Problems".
Where 2 Technologies and Google Maps
In 2003, Lars and his brother,
Jens, with Australians Noel Gordon and Stephen Ma, co-founded
Where 2 Technologies, a mapping-related start-up in Sydney, Australia. This company was bought 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 October 2004, to create
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 ...
. The four of them were subsequently employed by Google in the engineering team at the company's Australian office in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
.
[Sutter, John D.]
The genius brothers behind Google Wave
CNN, 27 October 2009. Lars and Jens are also the originators of the
Google Wave
Google Wave, later known as Apache Wave, was a software framework for real-time collaborative editing online. Originally developed by Google and announced on May 28, 2009, it was renamed to ''Apache Wave'' when the project was adopted by the Apa ...
project.
Facebook
On 29 October 2010, Rasmussen announced that he had left Google, and was moving to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to work for
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
.
At Facebook he was, among other things, the engineering director for the
Facebook Graph Search
Facebook Graph Search was a semantic search engine that was introduced by Facebook in March 2013. It was designed to give answers to user natural language queries rather than a list of links. The name refers to the social graph nature of Facebo ...
project which is a
semantic search
Semantic search denotes search with meaning, as distinguished from lexical search where the search engine looks for literal matches of the query words or variants of them, without understanding the overall meaning of the query. Semantic search seek ...
engine for the social network. In 2013 he and
Tom Stocky
Tom Stocky is an American computer scientist and technology executive. He is vice president of product at insitro, a drug discovery startup. He was previously vice president of Search at Facebook.
Stocky was a director of product management at ...
were listed as number 79 in ''The 100 Biggest Stars In Silicon Valley'' by
Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
. Rasmussen had been working in the Facebook London office.
Music start-up
On 27 April 2015 Rasmussen announced his departure from Facebook to co-found a music start-u
Weav Music Incwith his partner
Elomida Visviki.
Lars Rasmussen has since moved to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and became an angel investor.
Awards
On 19 October 2010, Lars and Jens Rasmussen were awarded the
Pearcey Award
The Pearcey Awards are a set of prizes presented annually since 1998 by the Pearcey Foundation for achievement in the Australian ICT industry.
Pearcey Award Categories
Each year, the Pearcey Foundation presents 3 categories of award:
;Pearcey ...
for NSW ICT Entrepreneurs of the Year.
In 2020, Rasmussen was named the recipient of the Green Oaks, Libertyville, Mundelein, Vernon Hills Chamber of Commerce second annual Stephanie Smith-Howard Volunteer Heart Award.
Investments
Rasmussen has made personal investments in a number of technology startups including
Canva
Canva is an Australian graphic design platform that is used to create social media graphics and presentations. The app includes readymade templates for users to use, and the platform is free and offers paid subscriptions such as Canva Pro and ...
, an online design tool; and Posse, a point of interest-based recommendation service.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Lars
Living people
Google employees
Facebook employees
Aarhus University alumni
UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Danish computer scientists
Danish expatriates in the United States
Danish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Danish company founders
Danish expatriates in Australia
Year of birth missing (living people)