2021 STARS Hall of Fame

Chip and Ken Gracey

Founders and leaders of Parallax, Inc

Garfield Elementary | Winston Churchill Middle School | Mira Loma High School

Chip Gracey is the founder and Chief of R&D of Parallax. Chip’s interests in coding, electronics, and microcontrollers started with video games, RadioShack, and the Apple II computer. In the early 1980s, his dad Chuck Gracey brought the Apple II computer home from his employer, Aerojet. Chip learned to program on those weekends while writing code during the week. By his junior year at Mira Loma High School, Chip had created a business to manufacture his ISEPIC, a software cracking/duplication device for the Commodore 64. This productive effort lead into Parallax, where Chip has progressed from making programming tools for semiconductors to designing his own, full-custom silicon microcontrollers called the Propeller 1 and 2. These eight-core processors are new to the industry and used in medical, robotics, and industrial equipment – as well as Parallax’s educational products. Chip’s engineering skill is completely self-taught and his favorite SJUSD class was Bob Wofford’s computer programming course at Winston Churchill Middle School in 1981.

Early in his life, Ken Gracey’s future interests were determined by the hands-on activities where he was able to use tools to build all kinds of things like R/C boats, train layouts, unicycles and his own home. Workshop classes in the San Juan Unified School District were the ones he’d remember the most. This kind of hands-on learning was far more engaging than traditional education to him and provided a tangible solution to problem-solving and critical thinking.

Today, Ken is the CEO of Parallax and leads the company closely with his brother, Chip Gracey. Parallax is a Rocklin, California manufacturer of educational robotic kits for learning coding, electronics and project building. Parallax’s program has given many students the opportunity to discover their interests and follow through with STEM careers. Parallax has shipped over a million robots to schools around the world over the past 25 years. Ken also obtained his preliminary Career Technology Education (CTE) credential and applied his company’s products in the local school district over a seven-year period. Ken’s SJUSD schools includes Garfield Elementary, Winston Churchill Middle School, and Mira Loma High School. He graduated from American River College (A.S.) and UC Davis (B.S.). His personal interests include playing clarinet, mowing grass with a tractor, and riding bicycles.