New York, NY, January 15, 2009 -- ACM has recognized 44 of its members for their contributions to computing technology that have generated a broad range of innovations for industry, commerce, entertainment, and education.  The 2008 ACM Fellows, from the world’s leading universities, industries, and research labs, created advances in computer theory as well as practice.  These technology developments have consistently demonstrated their crucial role in forming the foundation for sustained economic growth in an information-based society.   

            “These men and women are the inventors of technology that impact the way people live and work throughout the world,” said ACM President, Professor Dame Wendy Hall.  “Their selection as 2008 ACM Fellows offers us an opportunity to recognize their dedicated leadership in this dynamic field, and to honor their contributions to solving complex problems, expanding the impact of technology, and advancing the quality of life for people everywhere.” 

The complete list of 2008 ACM Fellows is appended at the end of this announcement and at http://fellows.acm.org.

Within the corporate sector, the 2008 ACM Fellows named from Microsoft Research were cited for contributions ranging from computer security and verification to human-computer interaction, computational photography and distributed computing.  IBM Almaden and Thomas J. Watson Research Centers each had Fellows, who were recognized for query-processing language and computational geometry, which is often used in the development of computer graphics, computer-aided design, robotics, and other applications.  Other corporate entities with 2008 Fellows were Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, and Palo Alto Research Center.  Their respective contributions include compiler technology and computer performance enhancement tools, database management and computer communications protocols.

Among the universities with 2008 ACM Fellows was Stanford University, whose Fellows were recognized for achievements in programming language theory, rendering theory for use in computer graphics, software engineering process discipline, and reinventing virtual machines for more efficient operating system functioning. Fellows from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were honored for achievements in computer networking and distributed systems, theory of mathematical programming, development of the Macsyma system for symbolic mathematics, and algorithms and complexity theory.  Princeton University’s Fellows were acknowledged for advances in probabilistically checkable proofs and optimization problems, computer music as well as physics-based sound synthesis, and network control and management systems.  Carnegie Mellon University’s Fellows were recognized for contributions to computer-aided design tools, for combinatorial auctions and mechanism design, often used in game theory, and for software engineering process discipline.  Fellows from the University of Toronto were cited for contributions to the theory of computational complexity, and for computer-aided design of semiconductor devices known as field-programmable gate arrays.

Other North American universities with 2008 ACM Fellows include Georgia Institute of Technology; the University of Virginia; the University of Minnesota; the University of Texas at Austin; the University of Waterloo; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Rice University; and the University of California at Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Irvine.  ACM Fellows from these institutions were cited for achievements in ubiquitous computing research, emphasizing applications for education, home, and health; compiler design and implementation; human-computer interaction; compilers and memory management; algorithms and data structures; fault-tolerant distributed computing; technologies for parallel computing; computer security; computer communications protocols; electronic design automation; computer vision; and computer-supported cooperative work.

Outside of North America, the universities with 2008 ACM Fellows include City University of Hong Kong in China; ETH (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Zurich in Switzerland; the University of Cambridge and Newcastle University in the UK; and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.  Fellows from these universities were recognized for contributions to the interface of algorithmic methodology and game theory; software engineering and programming languages; theorem provers and verification techniques; dependable computing and computer history; and design of high performance memory systems.

ACM also named a 2008 Fellow from Viewpoints Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization, who has made fundamental contributions to personal computing and object-oriented programming. 

ACM will formally recognize the 2008 Fellows at its annual Awards Banquet on June 27, 2009, in San Diego, CA.  Additional information about the ACM 2008 Fellows, the awards event, as well as previous ACM Fellows and award winners is available at www.acm.org/awards.

 

 

 

2008 ACM Fellows