ACM MemberNet - July 27, 2017

Welcome to the July 2017 edition of ACM MemberNet—Special Awards Banquet Edition.

The ACM Awards Banquet is an annual event recognizing technical excellence and outstanding service to the computing field. This year's banquet honoring the 2016 award recipients and newly inducted ACM Fellows was held at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco on June 24.

ACM's awards celebrate our long tradition of honoring those whose contributions have impacted our world for the better in countless ways. These prestigious and internationally recognized honors are an integral part of ACM's mission to unite computing educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges.

This was a special year for the ACM awards program. We celebrated 50 Years of the ACM A.M. Turing Award with two days of keynote talks and panel discussions highlighting the significant impact of the contributions of the Turing Laureates on computing and society, as well as looking ahead to the future of technology and innovation. You can watch videos of these historic presentations at http://www.acm.org/turing-award-50/video.

View our photo album of the banquet here.

July 27, 2017

AWARDS PRESENTED AT THE 2017 ACM AWARDS BANQUET:

ACM AWARD NOMINATIONS

ACM ADVANCED MEMBER GRADES

ACM A.M. Turing Award

The ACM A.M. Turing Award was presented to Sir Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and the fundamental protocols and algorithms allowing the Web to scale.

Accompanied by a prize of $1,000,000, ACM's most prestigious award is given to recognize contributions of a technical nature which are of lasting and major technical importance to the computing field. Financial support of the A.M. Turing Award is provided by Google Inc.


Turing laureate Sir Tim Berners-Lee

ACM Prize in Computing

The ACM Prize in Computing was presented to Alexei Efros for groundbreaking data-driven approaches to computer graphics and computer vision.

The ACM Prize in Computing (formerly the ACM - Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences) recognizes an early- to mid-career fundamental innovative contribution in computing that, through its depth, impact and broad implications, exemplifies the greatest achievements in the discipline. The award carries a prize of $250,000. Financial support is provided by Infosys Ltd.


ACM Prize recipient Alexei Efros with ACM President Vicki L. Hanson, Navin Budhiraja, Senior Vice President, Infosys, and ACM CEO Bobby Schnabel

ACM - AAAI Allen Newell Award

The ACM - AAAI Allen Newell Award was presented to Jitendra Malik for seminal contributions in multiple aspects of computer vision, computer graphics, and computational models of human vision.

The award is named for Allen Newell, a trailblazer in computer science research and education, and a founder of the artificial intelligence and cognitive science fields. The Newell Award is presented to individuals selected for career contributions that have breadth within computer science, or that bridge computer science and other disciplines. It is accompanied by a $10,000 prize provided by ACM and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and by individual contributions.


Newell Award recipient Jitendra Malik

Software System Award

The Software System Award was presented to John H. Howard, Michael L. Kazar, David A. Nichols, Sherri M. Nichols, Mahadev Satyanarayanan, Robert N. Sidebotham, Alfred Z. Spector, and the late Michael J. West for development of the pioneering and widely successful Andrew File System (AFS).

The Software System Award is presented to an institution or individuals recognized for developing a software system that has had a lasting influence, reflected in contributions to concepts, in commercial acceptance, or both. A prize of $35,000 accompanies the award, with financial support provided by IBM.

Software System Award recipients John H. Howard, Mahadev Satyanarayanan, David A. Nichols, Sherri M. Nichols, Alfred Z. Spector, Robert N. Sidebotham, and Michael L. Kazar with Vicki L. Hanson, Jeffrey Welser, Vice President and Lab Director, IBM Research, Almaden, and Bobby Schnabel

Grace Murray Hopper Award

The Grace Murray Hopper Award was presented to Jeffrey Heer for developing visualization languages that have changed the way people build and interact with charts and graphs across the Web.

The award is named for Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a pioneer in software development whose work spanned programming languages, software development concepts, compiler validation, and data processing. The Hopper Award is presented to the outstanding young computer professional of the year, selected on the basis of a single recent major technical or service contribution. The candidate must have been 35 years of age or less at the time the qualifying contribution was made. A prize of $35,000 accompanies the award, with financial support provided by Microsoft.

Hopper Award recipient Jeffrey Heer with Vicki L. Hanson, Eric Horvitz, Technical Fellow and Managing Director, Microsoft Research, and Bobby Schnabel

Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award

The Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award was presented to Amos Fiat and Moni Naor for groundbreaking contributions to broadcast encryption and piracy tracking, laying the foundations for modern copyright protection of Blu-ray discs and other broadcast media.

The award is named for Paris Christos Kanellakis, who, as a distinguished computer science theoretician and esteemed faculty member of Brown University, focused much of his work in the area of theoretical computer science, particularly the principles of database systems and logic. The Kanellakis Award honors specific theoretical accomplishments that have had a significant and demonstrable effect on the practice of computing. It is accompanied by a prize of $10,000 and is endowed by contributions from the Kanellakis family, and financial support by ACM's Special Interest Groups SIGACT, SIGDA, SIGMOD, and SIGPLAN, the ACM SIG Project Fund, and individual contributions.

Kanellakis Award recipients Moni Naor and Amos Fiat with Vicki L. Hanson and Bobby Schnabel

Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award

The Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award was presented to Owen Astrachan for three decades of innovative computer science pedagogy and inspirational community leadership in broadening the appeal of high school and college introductory computer science courses.

The Karlstrom Award is presented annually to an outstanding educator who is appointed to a recognized educational baccalaureate institution; recognized for advancing new teaching methodologies; effecting new curriculum development or expansion in computer science and engineering; or making a significant contribution to ACM's educational mission. Those teachers with 10 years or less experience are given special consideration. The Karlstrom Award is accompanied by a prize of $10,000, with financial support provided by Pearson Education.

Karlstrom Award recipient Owen Astrachan with Vicki L. Hanson, Tracy Johnson, Executive Portfolio Manager, Pearson Education, and Bobby Schnabel

Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics

The Eugene L. Lawler Award was presented to Ken Banks for pioneering work developing FrontlineSMS, using mobile technology and text messaging to empower people to share information, organize aid, and reconnect communities during crisis.

The Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics recognizes an individual or group who has made significant  humanitarian contributions through the use of computing technology. This biennial endowed award is accompanied by a prize of $5,000. Eugene L. Lawler was one of the founders of combinatorial optimization, and also made significant contributions to algorithmic graph theory, complexity theory, and computational biology. Lawler encouraged efforts at the University of California, Berkeley to establish the Reentry Program for Women and Minorities, and was the first faculty advisor and an effective advocate of this program.

Lawler Award recipient Ken Banks

Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Leonard Jay Shustek for the establishment and success of the Computer History Museum, one of the world’s leading institutions in exploring the history of computing and its impact on society.

The Distinguished Service Award is given on the basis of value and degree of service to the computing community. The contribution should not be limited to service to the Association, but should include activities in other computer organizations and should emphasize contributions to the computing community at large.

Distinguished Service Award recipient Leonard Jay Shustek with Vicki L. Hanson and Bobby Schnabel

Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award

The Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award was presented to Valerie Barr for broadening the impact of ACM-W, increasing its effectiveness in supporting women in computing worldwide, and encouraging participation in ACM.

The Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award recognizes outstanding service contributions to the Association. Candidates are selected based on the value and degree of service overall, and may be given to up to three individuals each year.

Outstanding Contribution Award recipient Valerie Barr with Vicki L. Hanson and Bobby Schnabel

Athena Lecturer Award

The Athena Lecturer Award was presented to Lydia E. Kavraki for the invention of randomized motion-planning algorithms in robotics and the development of robotics-inspired methods for bioinformatics and biomedicine.

Initiated in 2006 by the ACM Council on Women in Computing (ACM-W), the Athena Lecturer Award celebrates women researchers who have made fundamental contributions to computer science. The award carries a cash prize of $25,000, with financial support provided by Google. The recipient gives an invited talk at a major ACM conference of her choice.

Athena Lecturer Award recipient Lydia E. Kavraki

ACM Presidential Award

The ACM Presidential Award was presented to Moshe Y. Vardi for outstanding leadership over the last decade of ACM’s flagship publication - Communications of the ACM.

The award is given at the discretion of the ACM President and recognizes leaders whose actions and achievements serve as paragons for our field.

ACM Presidential Award recipient Moshe Y. Vardi with Vicki L. Hanson and Bobby Schnabel

2016 ACM Fellows

The ACM Fellows Program was established in 1993 to recognize and honor outstanding ACM members for their achievements in computer science and information technology and for their significant contributions to the mission of the ACM. The ACM Fellows serve as distinguished colleagues to whom ACM and its members look for guidance and leadership as the world of information technology evolves.

View the complete listing of ACM Fellows.

The 2016 Fellows are:

  • Noga Alon, Tel Aviv University
  • Paul Barford, University of Wisconsin
  • Luca Benini, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich and Universita' di Bologna
  • Ricardo Bianchini, Microsoft Research
  • Stephen Blackburn, Australian National University
  • Dan Boneh, Stanford University
  • Carla E. Brodley, Northeastern University
  • Justine Cassell, Carnegie Mellon University/Language Technologies Institute
  • Erik Demaine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Allison Druin, University of Maryland
  • Fredo Durand, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Nick Feamster, Princeton University
  • Jason Flinn, University of Michigan
  • William Freeman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Yolanda Gil, University of Southern California
  • Robert L. Grossman, University of Chicago/Open Data Group
  • Rajesh K. Gupta, University of California, San Diego
  • James Hendler, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Monika Henzinger, Universität Wien
  • Tony Hey, The Science and Technology Facilities Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
  • Xuedong Huang, Microsoft AI and Research
  • Daniel Jackson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Robert J.K. Jacob, Tufts University
  • Somesh Jha, University of Wisconsin
  • Ravi Kannan, Microsoft Research
  • Anne-Marie Kermarrec, Mediego/INRIA
  • Martin Kersten, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica
  • Christoforos Kozyrakis, Stanford University
  • Marta Kwiatkowska, University of Oxford
  • James Landay, Stanford University
  • K. Rustan M. Leino, Microsoft Research
  • J. Bryan Lyles, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Todd C. Mowry, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Trevor Mudge, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Sharon Oviatt, Incaa Designs
  • Venkata N. Padmanabhan, Microsoft Research India
  • Shwetak Patel, University of Washington
  • David Peleg, The Weizmann Institute of Science
  • Radia Perlman, Dell-EMC
  • Adrian Perrig, ETH Zurich
  • Ganesan Ramalingam, Microsoft Research India
  • Louiqa Raschid, University of Maryland
  • Holly Rushmeier, Yale University
  • Michael Saks, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
  • Sachin S. Sapatnekar, University of Minnesota
  • Abigail Sellen, Microsoft Research
  • Sudipta Sengupta, Microsoft Research
  • Andre Seznec, INRIA
  • Valerie E. Taylor, Texas A&M University
  • Carlo Tomasi, Duke University
  • Paul Van Oorschot, Carleton University
  • Manuela M. Veloso, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Zhi-Hua Zhou, Nanjing University

 

The 2016 ACM Fellows

Doctoral Dissertation Award

The Doctoral Dissertation Award was presented to Haitham Hassanieh of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his dissertation, The Sparse Fourier Transform: Theory and Practice, nominated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Honorable Mentions were presented to Peter Bailis of Stanford University for his dissertation, Coordination Avoidance in Distributed Databases (nominated by the University of California, Berkeley), and to Veselin Raychev of ETH Zurich/DeepCode for his dissertation, Learning from Large Codebases (nominated by ETH Zurich).

The Doctoral Dissertation Award is presented annually to the author(s) of the best doctoral dissertation(s) in computer science and engineering. The award is accompanied by a prize of $20,000 and the honorable mention is accompanied by a prize totaling $10,000. Financial sponsorship is provided by Google, Inc. Winning dissertations will be published in the ACM Digital Library as part of the ACM Books Series.

Doctoral Dissertation Award recipient Haitham Hassanieh with Vicki L. Hanson, Fernando Pereira, Google Distinguished Scientist, and Bobby Schnabel

ACM Student Research Competition

The ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) represents a unique forum for ACM undergraduate and graduate student members to present their original research. Student winners from the SIGACCESS, SIGARCH, SIGCHI, SIGCOMM, SIGCSE, SIGDA, SIGDOC, SIGGRAPH, SIGHPC, SIGMOBILE, SIGMOD, SIGPLAN, SIGSAC, SIGSOFT and SIGSPATIAL Student Research Competitions held at these conferences advanced to compete in the Grand Finals where their research contributions were evaluated, via the Web, by the ACM SRC committee. Financial sponsorship of $120,000 is provided by Microsoft per competition year. The finalists honored represent the best student research of the past year.

The winners of the 2016-2017 ACM SRC Grand Finals are:

Graduate Category:
  • 1st Place: Kazem Cheshmi, Rutgers University (CGO 2017)
  • 2nd Place: Omid Abari, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Mobicom 2016)
  • 3rd Place: Calvin Loncaric, University of Washington (FSE 2016)
Undergraduate Category:
  • 1st Place: Victor Lanvin, ENS Paris Saclay (POPL 2017)
  • 2nd Place: Jennifer Vaccaro, Olin College of Engineering (ICCAD 2016)
  • 3rd Place: Martin Kellogg, University of Washington (FSE 2016)

SRC Grand Finals winners (Graduate Category) Omid Abari, Calvin Loncaric, and Kazem Cheshmi with Vicki L. Hanson, Donald Kossmann, Microsoft Distinguished Scientist, Laurie Ann Williams, ACM Student Research Competition Chair, and Bobby Schnabel

SRC Grand Finals winners (Undergraduate Category) Victor Lanvin, Jennifer Vaccaro, and Martin Kellogg with Vicki L. Hanson, Donald Kossmann, Microsoft Distinguished Scientist, Laurie Ann Williams, ACM Student Research Competition Chair, and Bobby Schnabel

ACM AWARD NOMINATIONS

ACM Award Nomination Submission Procedures

Each year, ACM recognizes technical and professional achievements within the computing and information technology community through its celebrated Awards Program. ACM welcomes nominations for candidates whose work exemplifies the best and most influential contributions to our community, and society at large. ACM's award committees evaluate the contributions of candidates for various awards that span a spectrum of professional and technological accomplishments. For awards presented at the annual June banquet, the deadline for award nominations has been changed from November 30, 2017 to January 15, 2018, with the exception of the deadline for the Doctoral Dissertation Award nominations which is October 31, 2017.

Please take a moment to consider those individuals in your community who may be suitable for nomination. Refer to the award nominations page for nomination guidelines and the complete listing of Award Subcommittee Chairs and Members.

ACM ADVANCED MEMBER GRADES

Advanced Member Grades Nominations Information

The Senior Member advanced grade of membership recognizes ACM members with at least 10 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership. Nominations are accepted on a quarterly basis. The deadline for nominations is September 3.

The Distinguished Member designation recognizes ACM members with at least 15 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who have demonstrated significant accomplishments or made a significant impact on the computing field. The deadline for nominations is August 1.

Fellow is ACM's most prestigious member grade recognizing the top 1% of ACM members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology and/or outstanding service to ACM and the larger computing community. The deadline for nominations is September 7.

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