Paul Hoffert

Paul Matthew Hoffert, LLD, CM (born 22 September 1943, in Brooklyn, New York) is a recording artist, performer, media music composer, author, academic, and corporate executive. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto. He later studied music composition with Gordon Delamont. In 1969, the 26-year-old Hoffert co-founded Lighthouse, a rock group that sold millions of records and earned three Juno Awards as one of Canada's leading pop bands. His film music earned him a San Francisco Film Festival and three SOCAN Film Composer of the Year awards and included films such as The Proud Rider (1971), The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972), Outrageous! (1977), High-Ballin' (1978), The Shape of Things to Come (1979), Wild Horse Hank (1979), Mr. Patman (1980), Deadly Companion (1981), Paradise (1982), Fanny Hill (1983), Bedroom Eyes (1984), and Mr. Nice Guy (1987).

In 2001, Hoffert received the Pixel Award as the New Media industry's "Visionary of the Year".

Hoffert has parallel achievements in science and technology. He was a researcher at the National Research Council of Canada in the early 1970s and returned to research in 1988 as Vice President of DHJ Research, where he invented precursor algorithms to MP3 audio compression, as well as microchips for Newbridge Microsystems and products for Mattel, Akai, and Yamaha.

In 1992, Hoffert founded the CulTech Research Centre at York University, where he developed advanced media such as digital videophones and networked distribution of CD-ROMs. From 1994 to 1999, he directed Intercom Ontario, a $100 million trial of the world's first completely connected broadband community that landed him on the cover of the Financial Post and in the Wall Street Journal. He is an expert in online content distribution and usage consumption.

Hoffert was awarded the Order of Canada [CM] in 2004 for his contributions to music and the arts. The Canadian Government citation reads: "[Mr. Hoffert] is multitalented, determined, and a visionary. Paul Hoffert is a founding member of the rock group Lighthouse and an award-winning composer who has scored countless feature films and television productions. He received an honorary PhD from the University of Toronto in June 2012."

"Formerly a teacher at the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University, Hoffert founded the University's CulTech Research Centre and is an expert on new media and technology. A founding director of the Canadian Independent Record Producers Association and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, he was instrumental in bringing about the Gemini and Prix Gémeaux awards. He was the first artist to chair the Ontario Arts Council, and he continues to be involved in multiple arts organizations and the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund."