James Larus Named Editor-in-Chief of Communications of the ACM
EPFL Professor Will Lead Premiere Computing Publication for Five-Year Term
NEW YORK, NY June 22, 2022 – Gabriele Kotsis, President of ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has announced that James Larus, a Professor and former Dean of the School of Computer and Communication Sciences at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), has been named Editor-in-Chief of Communications of the ACM. Widely regarded as the leading print and online publication for the computing and information technology fields, Communications of the ACM was established in 1958 and today reaches a monthly readership of more than 100,000 worldwide. As Editor-in-Chief, Larus will work with the magazine’s editorial board and staff to shape the strategic vision of the publication, plan its content, and find new ways to strengthen the monthly magazine’s relevance and influence. Although Larus will officially take up his editorial responsibilities effective July 1, 2022, he has already been involved in helping plan issues of the magazine.
“Because Jim Larus has been a devoted reader of Communications since he began his career, he uniquely understands the magazine’s roots and its relevance to the field,” remarked Kotsis. “In the publication’s history, the magazine has been fortunate to have some outstanding editors, and the publication’s influence has naturally grown with computing’s ascendance over the last few decades. Larus’s vision includes a greater emphasis on sharing outstanding research results, while at the same time making Communications a web-first publication to allow for more timely articles and expanded content. With ACM celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, his vision is just right for our flagship publication as we embark on a new era. We are all excited to help Jim achieve his goals.”
“I am honored to have been selected as Editor-in-Chief of Communications of the ACM,” said Larus. “Our field has grown exponentially since I started reading the magazine as a student. But at the same time there has been more splintering, with people tending to share their work only with others in their specialization. Every few years, new sub-disciplines of computing develop, as evidenced by the expanding family of ACM journals, special interest groups, and emerging interest groups. So, my main goal is to make Communications a shared public square where the best research from many different disciplines can be shared broadly with the global computing community. This was the format of when I first started reading it, and it was a must-read for people in our field. At the same time, we will transition Communications to a web-first format while maintaining the monthly print edition. A web-first format will allow us to offer readers more timely content, while also offering our authors the opportunity to delve more deeply into a topic by publishing longer articles, including more images, and even adding video content. What I am most excited about is working with colleagues to put together a publication that represents the voice of the computing community at a very exciting time in the development of our field.”
Larus succeeds Andrew A. Chien, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Chicago, who became Editor-in-Chief in July 2017. Among his other accomplishments, Chien is credited with expanding the global reach of Communications, most notably with a series of Regional Special Sections. Chien will remain on the Communications of the ACM editorial board as Senior Editor.
In addition to his role as Professor, Larus serves as Director of EPFL’s Very-Large Scale Computing Lab (VLSC). He is especially known for creating SPIM, a MIPS processor simulator, and for his work in efficient path profiling. Larus has published over 100 papers (with nine best and most influential paper awards), received over 40 US patents, and is co-author of the book Transactional Memory. His honors include receiving a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and being selected as an ACM Fellow for contributions to programming languages, compilers, and computer architecture.
Earlier in his career, Larus was a researcher, manager, and director in Microsoft Research for over 16 years and a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Larus received his MS and PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989, and an AB in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University in 1980.
About Communications of the ACM
ACM's flagship magazine, Communications of the ACM, is the premier chronicler of computing technologies, covering the latest discoveries, innovations, and research that inspire and influence the field. Each month, Communications brings readers in-depth stories of emerging areas of computer science, new trends in IT, and practical research applications. Industry leaders choose Communications to debate technology implications, public policies, engineering challenges, and market trends. Read by nearly 100,000 computing researchers and practitioners worldwide, Communications is recognized as the most trusted and knowledgeable source of industry information for today's computing professional.
About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.
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