University of California, Berkeley (2007)
Citation
For distinguished service to ACM and the computing community, especially in the areas of education, national committees, and professional societies.

Press Release

Dr. David A. Patterson's sustained service, in a number of forms, has benefited the entire computing community. His creativity, ability to execute, and sheer energy have made computing better respected and better understood in many venues, national and international. His excellence in teaching has served several generations of computer scientists at the University of California directly, and his computer architecture textbooks have served a broader audience.

Over the years Dr. Patterson has maintained a high level of professional service. He served on the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC); was a Board Member and then Chair of the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association (CRA); served on the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board; and was recently President of the ACM. In each of these roles he has a record of significant accomplishments. As President of ACM he created six major initiatives in the areas of research funding, offshoring, publicity for ACM, the health of professional conferences, high school education, and ACM member communication.

As a member of the National Academy of Engineering's Membership Committee, Dr. Patterson has highlighted the contributions of other outstanding computing researchers, thereby increasing the number of computer scientists annually elected to the NAE. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of ACM, IEEE, and AAAS.