In the Spotlight

Stuart Sumida

Biology

From ancient fossils to cutting-edge animation, Stuart Sumida’s work takes him all over the place. First and foremost, he is a biology professor at Cal State San Bernardino who has worked on ancient finds such as “Sue,” the world’s largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex. Helping students excel in the classroom with his knowledge of anatomy led to a simple lecture to Disney animators on how animals move. And that led to consulting jobs on films such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” and more than 30 more films by Hollywood’s major studios. “Making animated films and films with extensive special effects now takes an enormous amount of technology and scientific information,” Sumida said. “I’ve been very fortunate to be able to participate in this new wave of animation technology. Significantly, it also impacts very positively on my teaching at Cal State San Bernardino.”