ACM has announced that Jeannette Wing of Microsoft Research has been named recipient of the 2014 ACM Distinguished Service Award, and Dame Wendy Hall of the University of Southampton has been designated to receive the 2014 Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award.
Wing was cited for her advocacy of “computational thinking,” which can be used to algorithmically solve complicated problems of scale; her leadership of the CISE (Computer and Information Science and Engineering) Directorate of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), “and for drawing new and diverse audiences to the field of computer science.”
As a corporate vice president of Microsoft Research, Wing has oversight of its core research laboratories around the world. Previously, she led the CISE Directorate of the NSF, and was the President’s Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.
Wing earned S.B. and S.M. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she also received a Ph.D. in computer science.
The Distinguished Service Award is presented based on the value and degree of services to the computing community, including consideration of activities outside ACM and emphasizing contributions to the computing community at large.
The first ACM president from outside North America, Hall was cited “for guiding ACM to become a truly international organization, helping improve diversity within ACM, and working to increase ACM’s visibility in scientific venues world-wide.”
Hall initiated the establishment of ACM Councils in Europe, India and China, and has focused on the education of upcoming computer science generations, promoting gender diversity and nurturing talent in computing from all corners of the world. A professor of computer science at the University of Southampton, UK, Hall was a founding director of the Web Science Research Initiative to promote the discipline of Web Science and foster research collaboration between the University of Southampton and MIT.
A native of London, Hall received B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from the University of Southampton, and a Master of Science degree in computing from City College London. A professor of computer science at the University of Southampton, Hall was a founding director of the Web Science Research Initiative to promote the discipline of Web Science and foster research collaboration between the University of Southampton and MIT. She has served as president of the British Computer Society, and since 2014, has served as a commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance. In 2009, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award recipients are selected based on the value and degree of their service to ACM.
“The computing field has benefited immensely from the passion and energy of these two world-leading computer scientists,” said ACM president Alexander L. Wolf. “Wing recognized early on that the ever-increasing impact of computing in modern society must be accompanied by a language in which we can discuss computing’s intellectual underpinnings with those not versed in its technical complexities.
Hall provided leadership and inspiration at a time when the computing discipline exploded onto the international scene, promoting ACM as the foremost association of computing professionals worldwide.”
The honorees will be recognized with ACM Awards for leadership and service at the ACM Awards Banquet on June 20 in San Francisco.
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