The Turing Award, officially named the ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) to individuals for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to the computing field. Widely recognized as the highest honor in computer science, it is often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Computing." The award is named after Alan Mathison Turing, a British mathematician and computer scientist whose foundational work laid the groundwork for modern computing and artificial intelligence. Recipients receive a monetary prize, currently $1,000,000, funded by Google since 2014.

1 History

1.1 Establishment and Early Years

The ACM established the Turing Award in 1966, primarily on the initiative of former ACM president Walter Carlson. The first laureate was Alan J. Perlis, recognized for his work on compiler construction and programming languages. In its early years, the award carried a modest cash prize of $5,000, funded by the ACM itself. The award was initially conceived to honor individuals for contributions of "lasting technical importance" to the field, a criterion that has remained central.

1.2 Funding and Prize Evolution

The prize amount increased several times over the decades. In 2007, the Intel Corporation provided funding that raised the prize to $250,000. A major change occurred in 2014 when Google became the sole sponsor, increasing the award to $1,000,000. This brought the Turing Award's monetary value in line with other major scientific prizes and significantly raised its public profile.

1.3 Key Milestones

Notable milestones include the first female recipient, Frances E. Allen, in 2006; the first Chinese-born recipient, Andrew Yao, in 2000; and the 2018 award to three researchers (Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun) for deep learning, marking a rare shared prize for a single topic. In 2021, the award was given to Jack Dongarra for high-performance computing, and in 2022 to Robert Metcalfe for Ethernet.

2 Selection Criteria and Process

2.1 Eligibility and Nomination

Nominations are accepted from the global computing community, including ACM members and non-members. Self-nominations are not permitted. Nominees must have made "major technical contributions of lasting and broad importance" to computing. There is no restriction on nationality, age, or affiliation. The nomination dossier must include a detailed statement and supporting letters.

2.2 Evaluation by the ACM Awards Committee

The ACM Awards Committee oversees the initial screening of all nominations. This committee reviews the technical merit, impact, and originality of the contributions. It ensures that nominations meet the award's criteria and then forwards a shortlist of candidates to the Turing Award Committee.

2.3 The Role of the Turing Award Committee

The Turing Award Committee is a separate body composed of eminent researchers appointed by the ACM. This committee conducts a thorough evaluation, often involving external expert review. The committee votes to select the winner(s) and, in some years, may decide to split the award among multiple individuals who contributed jointly. The final decision is announced publicly by the ACM President.

3 List of Laureates

3.1 Year-by-Year Listing

3.1.1 1966–1979

  • 1966: Alan J. Perlis (Programming languages, compilers)
  • 1967: Maurice Wilkes (EDSAC, stored-program concept)
  • 1968: Richard Hamming (Numerical methods, coding theory)
  • 1969: Marvin Minsky (Artificial intelligence)
  • 1970: James H. Wilkinson (Numerical analysis)
  • 1971: John McCarthy (AI, Lisp)
  • 1972: Edsger W. Dijkstra (Structured programming, algorithms)
  • 1973: Charles Bachman (Database systems)
  • 1974: Donald E. Knuth (Analysis of algorithms, TeX)
  • 1975: Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon (AI, human cognition)
  • 1976: Michael O. Rabin and Dana S. Scott (Nondeterministic computation)
  • 1977: John Backus (Fortran, BNF notation)
  • 1978: Robert W. Floyd (Program verification, compilers)
  • 1979: Kenneth E. Iverson (APL, mathematical notation)

3.1.2 1980–1999

  • 1980: C. A. R. Hoare (Logic, programming languages)
  • 1981: Edgar F. Codd (Relational database model)
  • 1982: Stephen A. Cook (Complexity theory, NP-completeness)
  • 1983: Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie (Unix, C)
  • 1984: Niklaus Wirth (Pascal, modular programming)
  • 1985: Richard M. Karp (Algorithm design, NP-completeness)
  • 1986: John Hopcroft and Robert Tarjan (Algorithms, data structures)
  • 1987: John Cocke (RISC architecture, compiler optimization)
  • 1988: Ivan Sutherland (Computer graphics, Sketchpad)
  • 1989: William Kahan (Floating-point arithmetic standard)
  • 1990: Fernando J. Corbató (Multics, time-sharing)
  • 1991: Robin Milner (ML, LCF, concurrent computation)
  • 1992: Butler Lampson (Personal computing, distributed systems)
  • 1993: Juris Hartmanis and Richard E. Stearns (Computational complexity)
  • 1994: Edward Feigenbaum and Raj Reddy (Expert systems, AI)
  • 1995: Manuel Blum (Complexity theory, cryptography)
  • 1996: Amir Pnueli (Temporal logic, program verification)
  • 1997: Douglas Engelbart (Interactive computing, mouse)
  • 1998: Jim Gray (Database transactions, DataTelescope)
  • 1999: Frederick P. Brooks (OS/360, computer architecture, The Mythical Man-Month)

3.1.3 2000–2019

  • 2000: Andrew Yao (Communication complexity, cryptography)
  • 2001: Ole-Johan Dahl and Kristen Nygaard (Simula, object-oriented programming)
  • 2002: Ronald L. Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman (RSA encryption)
  • 2003: Alan Kay (Smalltalk, object-oriented programming)
  • 2004: Vint Cerf and Robert E. Kahn (TCP/IP, Internet protocols)
  • 2005: Peter Naur (Algol 60, compiler design)
  • 2006: Frances E. Allen (Compiler optimization, parallel computing)
  • 2007: Edmund M. Clarke, E. Allen Emerson, and Joseph Sifakis (Model checking)
  • 2008: Barbara Liskov (Data abstraction, Liskov substitution principle)
  • 2009: Charles P. Thacker (Xerox Alto, personal computing)
  • 2010: Leslie Valiant (Computational learning theory, PAC learning)
  • 2011: Judea Pearl (Probabilistic reasoning, causal inference)
  • 2012: Silvio Micali and Shafi Goldwasser (Zero-knowledge proofs, secure computation)
  • 2013: Leslie Lamport (Distributed systems, LaTeX)
  • 2014: Michael Stonebraker (Database systems, Ingres, Postgres)
  • 2015: Whitfield Diffie and Martin E. Hellman (Public-key cryptography)
  • 2016: Tim Berners-Lee (World Wide Web)
  • 2017: John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson (RISC architecture, computer organization)
  • 2018: Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun (Deep learning)
  • 2019: Edwin Catmull and Pat Hanrahan (Computer graphics, Renderman)

3.1.4 2020–Present

  • 2020: Alfred Aho and Jeffrey Ullman (Compilers, algorithms, formal languages)
  • 2021: Jack Dongarra (High-performance computing, LINPACK)
  • 2022: Robert Metcalfe (Ethernet, networking)
  • 2023: Avi Wigderson (Randomness, computational complexity)

3.2 Notable Winners by Contribution Area

3.2.1 Pioneers of Computing Theory

This category includes Turing Award recipients whose work laid the theoretical foundations of computer science. Notable names include Alonzo Church (1936, but not a recipient; but among winners: Alan Turing himself never won the award), Stephen Cook (NP-completeness), Richard Karp (algorithm theory), Andrew Yao (communication complexity), and Avi Wigderson (randomness and derandomization). Their work defined core concepts such as computational complexity, formal languages, and algorithm design.

3.2.2 Advances in Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has been a recurring theme among Turing Award winners. Early pioneers like Marvin Minsky, John McCarthy, and Allen Newell/Herbert Simon were honored in the 1960s and 1970s. Later, Edward Feigenbaum and Raj Reddy (1994) contributed to expert systems. The 2011 award to Judea Pearl recognized causal reasoning, and the 2018 award to Bengio, Hinton, and LeCun celebrated the deep learning revolution that transformed AI applications.

3.2.3 Contributions to Systems and Programming Languages

Many winners have made seminal contributions to computer systems, operating systems, and programming languages. Examples include John Backus (Fortran), Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie (Unix, C), Niklaus Wirth (Pascal), Butler Lampson (distributed systems), and Jim Gray (database systems). In the 2000s, recognition of object-oriented programming (Dahl and Nygaard, Alan Kay) and system verification (Clarke, Emerson, Sifakis) highlighted the continued importance of software and hardware engineering.

4 Impact and Legacy

4.1 Influence on Computer Science Research

The Turing Award has shaped research directions by publicly recognizing foundational work. The list of laureates serves as a "who's who" of computer science, often influencing funding priorities, academic curricula, and young researchers' career choices. The award's emphasis on lasting technical importance encourages a focus on fundamental contributions rather than mere technical novelty.

4.2 The Turing Award Lecture Series

Each recipient is invited to deliver a Turing Award lecture, typically at the annual ACM Conference or during a dedicated event. These lectures are published in the Communications of the ACM and other venues. They often provide personal reflections on the laureate's contributions, the evolution of computing, and future challenges. The series constitutes a valuable historical record of computer science thought.

4.3 Public Recognition and Media Coverage

Since the prize increase in 2014, the Turing Award has received more attention from general media, including major newspapers and science outlets. The award is now frequently discussed alongside the Nobel Prize, enhancing public awareness of computing achievements. The ACM maintains a dedicated website and press releases for each winner, and the award is mentioned in textbooks and popular science literature.

5 Controversies and Criticisms

5.1 Underrepresentation of Women and Minorities

As of 2024, only three women have received the Turing Award: Frances Allen (2006), Barbara Liskov (2008), and Shafi Goldwasser (2012). Critics note the low number compared to the Nobel Prizes in related fields. Additionally, there have been few recipients from non-Western countries, though Andrew Yao (2000, China) and a growing number of researchers from Europe and Asia have been recognized. The ACM has initiated efforts to broaden the nomination pool but the gender and diversity gap remains a point of discussion.

5.2 Debates on Award Priorities

Some observers argue that the Turing Award has historically favored theoretical and algorithm contributions over systems, engineering, or applied computing. For instance, early awards heavily focused on founding figures of computer science, while later awards diversified. However, periodic shared awards for networking (Cerf and Kahn), databases (Stonebraker), and graphics (Catmull and Hanrahan) show a broadening scope. There is ongoing debate about whether the award adequately covers areas such as cybersecurity, human-computer interaction, or software engineering.

5.3 Comparisons with Other Major Prizes

The Turing Award is often compared to the Nobel Prize, but important differences exist: the Nobel Prize has multiple categories (Physics, Chemistry, etc.) and a longer history, whereas the Turing Award is a single prize covering all of computing. The Nobel Prize for Economics has sometimes been awarded to computer scientists (e.g., Herbert Simon, Daniel Kahneman), but the Turing Award remains the dedicated highest honor. Some critics note that the Turing Award lacks the prestige of the Nobel in the broader public, though within the computing community it is undisputed.

6.1 ACM Fellows and Other ACM Awards

The ACM designates Distinguished Members and Fellows based on technical contributions and service. The ACM Fellowship program is considered a significant honor, though less selective than the Turing Award. Other ACM awards include the ACM Prize in Computing (for early career researchers), the ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award, and the ACM Software System Award. The Turing Award is the pinnacle of ACM's recognition hierarchy.

6.2 National and International Computing Prizes

Several nations have their own top computing prizes, such as the IEEE John von Neumann Medal (USA), the Lovelace Medal (UK), the Leibniz Prize (Germany), and the Japan Prize (categories including computing). Internationally, the Wolf Prize in Mathematics and the NEC C&C Prize have occasionally recognized computer scientists. However, the Turing Award remains the most globally recognized prize dedicated solely to computing.

6.3 The Turing Test and Alan Turing's Legacy

The award's namesake, Alan Turing, is also commemorated by the "Turing Test," a criterion for machine intelligence proposed in his 1950 paper. While the Turing Test has been the subject of philosophical debate and annual competitions (e.g., the Loebner Prize), it is distinct from the Turing Award. Alan Turing's broader legacy includes his work on code-breaking, the Universal Turing Machine, and the foundations of AI. The ACM Turing Award serves as a lasting tribute to his vision.